Ride-Hailing Startup Gett Nets $200M In Funding

Gett, an Israel-based ride-hailing startup that focuses on high-end B2B clients, has raised $200 million, which places its value at $1.5 billion, according to a report by TechCrunch.

Founder and CEO Dave Waiser said this is probably the company’s last funding round, as it plans to do an IPO by the first quarter of 2020.

“We are still thinking about the venue,” he said. “It might be London, or it might be New York.”

Waiser also said he expects Gett to be operationally profitable by the end of 2019.

The latest round of funding brings the total amount raised by the company to $790 million, and it includes investors like Volkswagen, Access, Kreos and MCI.

Gett operates in only four regions: Israel, the U.K., Russia and New York. In London, it allows for traditional black cab drivers to pick up riders in-app as well as regular street pickups. Waiser said the company’s potential profitability is helped by its relatively small size in relation to competitors like Uber and Lyft.

“A year ago, profitability was not a very popular topic,” he said. “In Uber and Lyft we see two great companies, but even as they grow revenues, their losses are growing. What is really unique for Gett is that our success, and our improvements in revenues, are in parallel with our Ebitda improving.”

Gett is focused more on continuing to grow its business, as opposed to being the number one ride hailing service in the world. Gett was also recently in the news over Volkswagen reportedly writing off $300 million of its Gett investment.

Waiser called the news “bad journalism.”

“There were no audit reports to support those claims, and it was damaging to report that,” he said, noting that VW participated in the latest funding round.

Waiser has also had to answer a rumor that he was going to sell Juno, a ride-hailing service that Gett acquired for $200 million in 2017.

“There is no plan to sell Juno,” he said. “It’s the only player in the U.S. that might become national while remaining financially disciplined.”