Online taxi hailing startup TaxiPixi has raised a seed fund from Hyderabad-based mobile phone maker Celkon Mobiles.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed. The India-based company will utilize this fund to expand its services to tier two and tier three cities in India, Malaysia and Singapore.
TaxiPixi has a web and mobile service (app for iPhone, Android) that enables users to request a taxi. Then, the company sends this booking request to all nearby taxis that belong to all taxi operators. Once a driver accepts the booking, the details of the driver and customer are shared with each other.
TaxiPixi's multi-operator strategy doesn't limit a customer to a single taxi operator.
The company has been operating in various cities in India, including Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kolkata, and Goa. It also has its service in Malaysia and expansion to Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Singapore are on the cards.
The interesting point here is the investment company being a mobile device manufacturer. TaxiPixi is set to leverage Celkon's mobile product base and target young customers.
TaxiPixi's app will be pre-loaded in Celkon smartphones that are selling in India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Nepal. Also, Celkon will promote TaxiPixi app to its existing customers through its app store and website.
Through Celkon's marketing effort, TaxiPixi expects to get access to about 100,000 new users every month.
