Cambodia-based Meal Temple Group today announced the launch of its ride-hailing service DriveUp.app in Laos’s capital city Vientiane.
“Vientiane is the perfect city to test our service. The market is ripe for disruption here, where competition is minimal, prices are elastic depending on cars, drivers and customers, and tourism is growing,” said Angele Fargette, Product Manager, DriveUp.app.
DriveUp claims it offers a “transparent, easy and secure way” to book taxis, tuk-tuks and samlors (a kind of tricycle), and a new way for drivers to find customers. It has more than 100 taxis already on its platform and tens of tuk-tuks being trained and joining it.
The service is available on the web as well as on mobile (iOS and Android).
The firm is now looking to add new payment methods in the upcoming weeks, including international credit cards and Alipay.
Laos has more than 5 million tourists visiting yearly. Its growth is expected to double in the next ten years and accounts for more than 15 per cent of the country’s GDP.
Meal Temple Group is a Cambodia-based food delivery and logistics company with operations in Laos. It recently announced its entry into the Kingdom of Bhutan with an investment in DrukRide, an online bus ticket booking platform.
In June, the group announced a strategic equity investment into Freshgora.com, an on-demand food and grocery delivery startup in Myanmar.
Last October, Meal Temple raised a six-figure round from private Australian and European investors.
