Taxify, an Estonian cab-hailing company that rivals Uber, has demoted its UK boss and is in the process of raising new funds as it tries to revive its operations in London.
Finn Geraghty, who joined Taxify as its UK operations manager, is no longer a director at the company as of early November. He remains employed at the firm. His demotion follows Taxify halting its operations in London over licensing issues.
Taxify has hired Rich Pleeth, who used to work as chief marketing officer at Gett, to oversee its expansion into Western Europe and to kickstart its abortive attempts at a London license.
After his stint at Gett, Pleeth founded his own social startup, Sup, which closed last October after failing to raise new funding.
He joined Taxify on October 31 and told Business Insider in a call that he was working with a legal and policy team to ensure the firm’s latest licensing application is watertight. The changes mean Pleeth is overseeing the UK business for now, though Taxify eventually plans to hire a UK general manager.
Pleeth said he is also leading a fundraising round for Taxify, though he declined to give details of a timeframe or amount.
“We are not desperate at all for the money,” he said, adding that the firm wanted to cash to fuel its growth.
The company already has a large foreign backer in Didi Chuxing, a Chinese ride-hailing company, though it has never disclosed the investment amount.
Prior to Didi, Taxify raised €2 million (£1.8 million) from outside investors and focused almost exclusively in non-Western European markets such as South Africa and Saudi Arabia.
Taxify ran into trouble with its initial foray into a Western European market — London. Founder Markus Villig launched the firm in a blaze of media on September 4. The major sell was that Taxify was, for the time being, cheaper than Uber and also took less commission from drivers. But three days later, Taxify halted its services in the city after the transport regulator, Transport for London, raised questions over its licensing arrangements and operations.
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