Another Israeli start-up takes off

Personally, I like to drive my own car – but I know that car ownership is not for everyone (anymore) and car-sharing has emerged as a result of changing mobility needs. Whilst for most Uber will immediately come to mind, today I would like to talk about another company that has recently made headlines for its strategic partnership with German Volkswagen.

Gett is an Israeli rideshare start-up with presence in more than 60 countries, among them London, Moscow and New York. Gett, formerly GetTaxi, was developed by Israelis Waiser and Roi More – without inspiration by Uber. The Tel Aviv and San Francisco teams both hit upon the idea independently during 2009. Uber got to market first, premiering in June 2010, while GetTaxi was released in Tel Aviv, its first market, in mid-2010.

The young company just received a $300 million investment from auto giant Volkswagen, to explore data sharing and collaboration for future project. This entails that Gett drivers will be able to buy discounted VW cars to used them as taxis.  Michael Müller said in a statement: “Within the framework of our future Strategy 2025, the partnership with Gett marks the first milestone for the Volkswagen Group on the road to providing integrated mobility solutions that spotlight our customers and their mobility needs”.

The investment, signed on Tuesday, came on the same day that Japan’s Toyota announced a partnership with Gett’s biggest rival, Uber. Toyota and Volkswagen are thereby not the first car makers to link up with ride-share apps. In March, General Motors and Lyft unveiled a joint car rental service for drivers.

I am following these developments with curiosity; healthy competition for Uber coming out of Israel will definitely give momentum to the car-sharing trend.