Moovn, a ride sharing app founded by Tanzanian-born Godwin Gabriel is gearing up to compete with the top two major players in the game – Uber and Lyft. With many pledging to #deleteuber after the company capitalized on a 1 hour transit strike by taxi drivers to protest Trump’s muslim ban and news breaking of Lyft’s association to Trump, Moovn is more than ready to well, move on in.
The app currently operates in 7 US cities (including NY, DC and Chicago) and has plans to rapidly expand to 20 more by March of this year, according to The Huffington Post. Moovn also operates in 3 cities in Africa: Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya; and Gabriel’s home city, Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania.
In an interview with UrbanGeekz, Gabriel talked about teaching himself to code and developing the software to launch the platform. Still, he admits his beta launch was “amateurish at best” and states, “It wasn’t until we received investor backing that I was able to hire and collaborate with a team of seasoned developers to transform the platform into what we have today.”
When asked what his biggest challenges are, he says, “The market, for the most part, is currently being dominated by Uber and Lyft with these companies enjoying the benefits of having first mover advantage with the transportation technology space. However, we’re confident that the global market remains sizable enough for all of us to fit in and play.”
Moovn’s interface is easy to navigate, simple to use and does not increase pricing based on weather conditions or prime time hours. The app is available for download for both Apple and Android users.