KDDI Open Innovation Fund has invested in a London based taxi app venture, Hailo Network Holdings Limited, which enables users to “hail” taxies by their smart phones.
Hailo was established in London in 2010 by 3 entrepreneurs and 3 taxi drivers. Hailo is a network that matches passengers and licensed taxi drivers, using a tool which helps to make taxis more sociable and profitable. Hailo makes sure people are never more than two taps away from a licensed taxi, and that drivers get more passengers when they want them.
Initial targets of Hailo are taxi markets in major global cities, and Hailo has already rolled out its service in London, Dublin, Toronto, Chicago, Boston, and plans to begin offering its service in Tokyo from this year.
Hailo, together with KDDI, will expand its service to passengers and drivers in Japan through its wholly owned subsidiary, Hailo Network Japan Co., Ltd.
KDDI Open Innovation Fund is KDDI’s first corporate venture fund and Global Brain has been assigned as a general partner of the fund.
Following investment, both KDDI and Global Brain will provide the necessary support to further strengthen Hailo’s corporate value.
Overview of the KDDI Open Innovation Fund
- Name
- KDDI Open Innovation Fund
- Investment target
- IT startup companies in Japan and overseas that collaborate with KDDI
- Total investment
- 5 billion yen
- Managed by
- Global Brain Corporation
Overview of Hailo
- Company name
- Hailo Network Holdings Limited
- Head Quarter
- London, UK
- Chairman
- Ron Zeghibe, CEO:Jay Bregman, COO: Caspar Woolley
- Founded
- December 23rd, 2010
- Operations
- Taxi app development
Overview of Hailo Network Japan
- Company name
- Hailo Network Japan Co., Ltd
- Head Quarter
- Tokyo, Japan
- CEO
- Kiyotaka Fujii
- Founded
- August 8th, 2012
Overview of Global Brain
- Company name
- Global Brain Corporation
- Head Quarter
- Nisshin Aoyama Bld. 9th Floor, 3-2-4 Kita-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
- CEO
- Yasuhiko Yurimoto
- Founded
- January 14, 1998
- Operations
- Venture capital