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The London start-up Wheely gathered a $ 15 million series B round led by Concentric with the participation of Oleg Tscheltzoff, Misha Sokolov and other investors. The company wants to build a competitor Uber focused on the luxury market.
It's a bit ironic to think of this as Uber started as a luxury business. But everyone knows someone with horrible Uber stories. That's why Wheely builds a reliable and predictable experience.
The company is currently live in London, Moscow and St. Petersburg – Paris is coming this summer. It operates with 3,500 drivers and currently has a gross booking rate of $ 80 million.
Wheely does not try to reinvent the wheel because the company works with third party partners and does not employ its drivers. In the same way, the company takes 20% discount on each trip.
But the startup insists on a strict recruitment process. For example, you can not become a Wheely driver from the first day. The company needs at least three years of experience driving with driver. You must also pass several tests, including driving tests and etiquette tests. Only one in four UberBlack drivers passes the exam.
There are currently three different classes: a normal class with Mercedes-Benz class E cars, an elegant class with Mercedes-Benz S class cars and a class van with Mercedes-Benz class V vehicles.
The minimum journey costs £ 12 with the entry-level class, £ 16 in a S-class and at least £ 40 with a van. You pay more according to the distance traveled and the time spent in the car.
And that works well since Wheely now accounts for about 11% of gross bookings in London. Since each ride costs more than a traditional ride, it makes sense that Wheely has already captured a good deal of the money pie. Let's see now if the company can find enough cities with a well-off population to develop its business.
Anton Chirkunov – Founder of Wheely.
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