Mobile apps are trying to put car dealers out of business

• Finnish startup Whim combines cabs, buses, bikes, e-scooters, and rental automobiles in one app.
• Whim was established in 2016 and has amassed more than $60 million in funding.
• It’s used 18M times worldwide, in European cities and Tokyo.

Mobile app Whim lets users pay for a whole urban trip via a single app, giving access to multiple forms of transport.

It could take a lot of time and be inconvenient. For this reason, Finnish startup MaaS Global chose to combine all these services into a single Whim app. Users can find cabs, buses, bikes, e-scooters, and rental automobiles in more than ten locations in Europe and Asia.

According to CEO Sampo Hietanen, “Whim’s main goal is to compete against automobile ownership.”

The International Energy Agency estimates that transport accounts for 24% of all energy-related CO2 emissions worldwide, the majority of which are produced by passenger cars. The environmental impact might be significant if Whim can persuade users to swap their car keys for a single app that offers a variety of transportation options, according to Hietanen.

He acknowledges that it’s not an easy job. Whim needs to be more practical and less expensive than owning a car in order to flourish. Even if a city inhabitant hardly uses their automobile, they nonetheless leave it parked outside as “freedom insurance,” according to Hietanen.

Whim competes by providing taxis and rental automobiles, but Hietanen claims that users typically choose public transportation or micromobility (shared lightweight vehicles such as bikes or e-scooters).

In Helsinki, where the app is most well-known, users can pick between several service tiers, including a pay-as-you-go option and a 30-day season pass, which costs €62 ($73) for unlimited public transportation and short taxi rides. Additionally, the ticket allows daily car rentals starting at €55 ($65).

Also Read

Dubai urges use of smart apps to order Eid Al Adha sacrifices

Dubai residents urged to use smart apps to order sacrificial animals. Muslims...

While driving alternatives are well-developed in Helsinki, this is not always the case. It will be challenging to persuade people to give up their automobiles if a city “does not have a wide public transport system or a lot of rental cars or taxis in place,” according to Maria Kamargianni, associate professor of transport and energy at University College London.

She adds that the accessibility of alternative transportation choices is likely to increase as the market matures and claims that apps like Whim represent the first step in luring consumers away from automobile ownership. The market for worldwide mobility services is expected to increase from $4.7 billion in 2020 to $70.4 billion in 2030, according to research firm MarketsandMarkets.

Other service providers include Citymapper, which debuted a transport pass in 2019 for Londoners, and Moovit, which debuted an all-in-one mobility app in Israel last year.

Whim, one of the first service providers, was established in 2016 and has amassed more than $60 million in funding from backers including BP (BP), Mitsubishi (MBFJF), and Toyota Financial Services. It’s accessible in a number of European cities and Tokyo, and since its debut, it’s been used on 18 million different occasions worldwide.

However, the Covid-19 pandemic has hurt the industry, according to Hietanen; fewer people are travelling, which lowers revenues and halts the company’s expansion into neighbouring locations.

According to a recent story from the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, the corporation spent €50 million ($59 million) on unsuccessful development projects. According to Hietanen, the funds were used to combine several transportation companies, make sure numerous nations were ready for market, and create the intricate technology that powers the app.

He adds that the business has just acquired further financing, saying, “We’ve known from the beginning that the expenditure needed to create this would be enormous.”

Hietanen is confident that despite the industry’s youth, there will be a demand. According to a recent report by the International Transport Forum (ITF), the need for mobility services would increase due to a growing global population and rapid urbanisation. However, in order for it to expand, “people must choose it over other travel options,” such as personal vehicles.

This is already happening, adds Hietanen. In a poll conducted by the company in Helsinki, 13% of its customers claimed that Whim had convinced them to stop driving. He claims that although “people want the more environmentally friendly answer, they still want the ability to go anywhere, whenever.”

Also Read

Now you can see which apps are spying on you in Windows 11

One of the most common complaints about Windows 11 is its lack...