Snapp!

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Snapp!
TypePrivate company
IndustryTechnology, Transportation
FoundedFebruary 28, 2014; 8 years ago (2014-02-28)
Founder
  • Eyad Alkassar
  • Mahmoud Fouz
Headquarters,
Services
  • SnappEco
  • SnappBike
  • SnappBox
  • SnappFood
  • SnappRoom
  • SnappTrip
  • SnappMarket
Number of employees
2,000
ParentSnapp Group
Websitesnapp.ir

Snapp! (Persian: اسنپ!) is an Iranian vehicle for hire company, headquartered in Tehran that launched in February 2014. Users can request a ride via the iOS, Android, or web application, by indicating their location and destination.[1] The price of the trip is set beforehand, to eliminate bargaining. Snapp! commissions drivers upon completing a background check, and showing a valid driver's license and insurance before hiring them. Along with Tapsi, Snapp! is the most popular ride-hailing platform in Iran.[citation needed]

Funding and Operations[edit]

The company launched in 2014 as Taxi Yaab and experienced rapid growth in the first three years.[2]

In October 2016, the company received a $20 million investment in a Series A round led by MTN Group, a South African multinational corporation.[3] According to a 2017 interview with Shahram Shahkar, the former CEO of the company, Snapp! employs more than 300,000 active drivers and more than 500 other personnel at that time.[4] Snapp rebranded itself and changed its logo in 2019.[5]

As of 2019, Snapp in Tehran was larger than Uber in any city.[6] As of December 2020, Snaap had 85% of Iran's market share with operations in 34 cities. Via its 1.5 million drivers, it provided two million rides per day and is credited with a major shift in how Irainians use taxis.[2][7]

Products[edit]

In order to evade sanctions and appear on the app store, Snapp had to disguise itself as a music app.[2] Similar to other companies such as Uber, Lyft, Snapp features other options including: Snapp Taxi, Snapp Bike (for motorcycles), Snapp Box (for parcels) and Snapp Club (a loyalty program).[8][9]

Subsidiaries[edit]

Initially, Iran Internet Group was supposedly the holding company behind Snapp!.[10] IIG also held other companies such as Bamilo and ZoodFood. Later on, it renamed or shut down some of these services in favor of expanding Snapp! from a transportation-focused company to a more general tech company. Because of this, the ZoodFood service was renamed to Snapp! Food[11] and the online retail store known as Bamilo was shut down and redirected to the Snapp! Market website. [12]

Lawsuit[edit]

Snapp was sued by TAPSI in an anti trust lawsuit which was dismissed by council of competition.[13]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Snapp About Us". Snapp.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ a b c "How Iran's biggest taxi app survived U.S. sanctions and app ban". 2020-12-03. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  3. ^ Bayrasli, Elmira. "With a €20 million Series A Snapp opens up ride-sharing in Iran". TechCrunch. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  4. ^ "مصاحبه شهرام شاهکار با دیجیاتو". Digiato. 6 March 2017. Archived from the original on 17 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  5. ^ "نگاهی به لوگو و هویت گرافیکی جدید اسنپ". www.injast.net (in Persian). 13 February 2019. Archived from the original on 17 February 2019. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
  6. ^ Odeh, Layan (2019-04-01). "Iran's Uber Hits 2 Million Rides-a-Day Amid Growth Spurt". Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  7. ^ Kamali Dehghan, Saeed (2017-07-31). "Snapp: how Tehran's answer to Uber is changing how people travel, and live". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  8. ^ "how to get a discount from Snapp?". afkarnews (in Persian). Retrieved 2022-01-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ "Snapp, Iran's First Unicorn Startup?". 2018-04-23. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  10. ^ "Companies". Iran Internet Group. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020.
  11. ^ "«اسنپ‌فود» نام جدید زودفود". Mehr News Agency. 15 August 2017.
  12. ^ "بامیلو به‌طور رسمی به کار خود پایان داد". Zoomit. 12 May 2019.
  13. ^ "دیجیاتو". دیجیاتو (in Persian). Archived from the original on 2018-10-02. Retrieved 2021-06-25.

External links[edit]