Telecommunications company MTN has provided €20m ($22.3m) in series A financing for Snapp, an Iran-based ride hailing service launched by e-commerce group Iran Internet Group (IIG), TechCrunch reported yesterday.
Launched by IIG in 2014 as Taxi Yaab, Snapp operates in Iran’s capital of Tehran and employs some 10,000 drivers, according to co-founder and chief executive Shahram Shahkar.
Although the service is, like Uber, app-based, users pay in hard currency rather than through their smartphones as Iran remains a largely cash-based society. The price for each ride is determined beforehand by the app to eliminate haggling.
Shahkar told TechCrunch: “We plan to invest in our current operations, expand to other cities, introduce different services such as premium vehicles and offer new features.”