Christmas arrives early for fast-growing Dutch startup Cabture, as it has successfully hit its €200.000 target for its second investment round. The travel experience startup that is improving the taxi-scene with its CabTab-equipped taxi’s raised the investment through a crowdfunding campaign on Eureeca. Cut-off date for the campaign was just after Christmas, but the customer-focused ad-tech company reached its destination early.
Open for overfunding
Although Cabture has now crowdfunded the required amount, their campaign on Eureeca will stay active for overfunding until the original cut-off date of December 26th. Cabture mainly wants to use the investment for resources to grow and to further develop its CabTab. This tablet with onboard wifi is currently installed in around 200 taxis, which are already transporting 4000 passengers daily, mostly to and from Schiphol airport. To get an idea of the experience that Cabture wants to offer its passengers, here’s founder Louaie el Rowidi’s pitch from the Startupbootcamp Smart City & Living 2016 Demo Day:
The CabTab
With the CabTab, Cabture intends to add value to lost travel time, and giving passengers a better experience that way. On the CabTab passengers can see the itinerary, travel time and fare price, as well as reviews about the driver and all kinds of content relating to things to do at their destination. Cabture mainly makes its money from the ads and the branded content on the Cabtabs and from add-ons it sells through these tablets. It already works with Iamsterdam and 25 brands including Heineken, you may have even spotted their Heineken Experience-themed cab around town.
Startupbootcamp Graduates
While still studying Business at the HvA, Louaie el Rowidi founded Cabture in 2014. The startup enrolled in Startupbootcamp mid 2016 and after finishing the intense program the company has landed several successes since. Earlier this year Cabture landed a nomination for the Accenture Innovation Awards. Right when its second investment round started, Cabture also participated in the Amsterdam edition of Get in the Ring. At this event, the startup landed the runner-up position just behind ParkEagle.
From crappy to classy
Besides making money from advertising through CabTabs the company also has a higher purpose in mind. Cabture wants to turn around the badly deteriorated state of the Amsterdam taxi scene. Stories of pushy proppers at Schiphol harassing travellers into overpriced taxis with rude drivers, are all over the news. Something needs to change, and rather yesterday than today. Cabtures wants to change Amsterdam taxis “van louche naar luxe”, from crappy to classy. All drivers have been screened for their customer service and customer satisfaction, as the founders state: “We want cab drivers that you would trust with your own mother or sister. A taxi with a CabTab is a benchmark for good quality”.
First you cabture the land, then you cabture the air
With the € 200.000 investment Cabture also wants to finance its international expansion. The company is about to enter the Austrian market as well as the German market. Besides the € 200.000 crowdfunding campaign, Cabture is also looking at raising another € 300.000 through Venture Capital. Eureeca is based in the United Arab Emirates, and it may or may not be a coincidence that the startup is also in talks with investors from this region. Of course there’s some pretty big airlines there too, and the startup is eager to see their product take off in the air. Exploring conversations about taking Cabture’s content & wifi-solution to the skies are currently taking place with Emirates Airlines as well as with KLM and Transavia.
Photo by Fred van Diem, provided by ACE Venture Lab.
