The London-based startup Karhoo will provide first and last mile transport for Spanish rail giant Renfe’s new one-stop shop transport app launching in November.
Through the partnership, the 30,000 taxis and private hire vehicles (PHV) on the Karhoo platform in Spain will be integrated into Renfe’s new mobile app called ‘Renfe as a Service’ (Raas). This will enable Renfe clients to organise their journey from start to finish, aggregating any transfers through a single payment, all without leaving the application.
The Raas app is currently being piloted in journeys between Madrid and Barcelona and will be fully rolled out across Spain in 2020, integrating train, subway, taxi, PHV and scooters, among other means of transport.
Karhoo, which also partnered with the French railways SNCF this year on first and last mile travel and MaaS, was chosen by Renfe over taxi/PHV fleets and networks due to Karhoo’s unmatched regional capability. The startup was founded in 2016 and raised a total of about €35 million in venture capital till date.
Spain’s national rail operator Renfe transported 507 million passengers during 2018. This made Renfe the railway operator with the highest volume of travellers in Spain. The Raas app will provide users with live waiting times, journey modifications alerts, and additional services during the trip.
Karhoo aggregates 1.8 million vehicles on its platform across 150 countries. They have been expanding rapidly in Spain with 180 fleets signed up across the country’s cities and towns.
Last month, Karhoo partnered with Iomob, a software provider for Mobility as a Service (MaaS), to offer these vehicles as part of Iomob’s projects throughout Europe. Earlier this year, Karhoo also partnered with major Spanish corporate mobility provider Taksee to extend the latter’s e-hailing and booking capabilities across Europe.
Karhoo Co-CEO Nicolas Andine stated: “Mobility as a Service is going to transform how we travel all around the world in the years to come. People are increasingly looking for quicker, cheaper, more sustainable and more convenient ways to get from A to B, and the first and last mile of a journey can often be the most stressful.”
He continued: “Through this innovative partnership with Renfe we will enable Spanish travellers to seamlessly plan their travel from the moment they step foot outside their front door until the moment they reach their final destination.”
