Abu Dhabi-based mobility startup Fenix has added ride-hail and courier providers to its portfolio of mobility merchandise.
The corporate launched “Fenix Taxi” in Manama, Bahrain, on Monday and says it’s planning so as to add two extra markets this summer time. On the identical time, Fenix launched its “Fenix Genie” service, which permits customers to “purchase something and get something delivered” inside minutes in choose neighborhoods of Abu Dhabi, Istanbul, Mersin and Doha, in line with the startup. Couriers ship items utilizing a mixture of Fenix’s shared e-scooters and inner e-mopeds.
Since Fenix’s founding as a shared e-scooter operator in 2020, the corporate has commonly added enterprise traces, from 10-minute grocery delivery to micromobility subscriptions to, now, ride-hail. It’s an analogous playbook to the likes of Bolt in Europe and Yandex in Russia and Israel, one which “leverages what we expect is the superpower of micromobility, which is a good way to get prospects onto the platform and organically undertake us after which provide complimentary providers,” Jaideep Dhanoa, co-founder and CEO of Fenix, informed TechCrunch.
Fenix launches ride-hailing service in Bahrain. Picture Credit: Fenix
“Having labored within the trade for about eight years now, I do know that one product can’t resolve all mobility wants as a result of our wants are numerous as a populace and even on a per journey foundation,” continued Dhanoa.
All of Fenix’s services can be found in the identical app, the objective being to create one “mobility tremendous app” to serve the higher Center East. Other than Bahrain, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, Fenix additionally has a presence in Saudi Arabia, particularly with its shared and subscription scooter service.
“Our mission is to unleash city potential and propel communities ahead,” mentioned Dhanoa. “We begin with mobility, which is an enabler for alternative. Mobility, it will get folks to work, to high school, to the mall, it will get you residence. When folks transfer and do extra, it drives financial exercise and high quality of residing, so we’re actually targeted on how we are able to scale back that friction to maneuver.”
Dhanoa says piling on the services has been the technique from the get-go. The CEO’s co-founder, IQ Sayed, was previously the top of engineering at Careem, a Middle Eastern ride-hailing service that Uber acquired. That have taught Sayed to consider the technological structure of Fenix’s product as one thing that would frequently be added to, quite than re-engineered each time the corporate determined so as to add a brand new enterprise line.
“We integrated these classes into how we’ve constructed up the tech at Fenix from day one, and it’s actually paying dividends as we’re now capable of spin out new merchandise principally each quarter with a really lean, high-velocity tech staff,” mentioned Dhanoa.
Publicly, Fenix has solely raised $5 million, most, if not all, of which in all probability went towards the company’s purchase of Turkish e-scooter operator Palm. Dhanoa says Fenix has raised more cash that it hasn’t but introduced to assist it scale and increase. In any other case, the corporate is especially counting on earnings from its core micromobility enterprise to fund these new enterprise traces.
Supply employees for Fenix Genie experience Fenix’s shared e-scooters. Picture Credit score: Fenix
“We’re worthwhile in all 5 of our markets on a unit financial foundation,” mentioned Dhanoa. “I feel market choice can also be vital. The Gulf particularly has a extremely giant revenue pool for ops-intensive companies simply as a consequence of labor arbitrage. We now have developed market pricing with rising market prices and low aggressive depth.”
Within the close to time period, Fenix is targeted on bringing its full portfolio of mobility and supply merchandise to the footprint the place it presently operates shared e-scooters so it could leverage present model stickiness. Dhanoa says Fenix can also be working to increase its e-scooter presence in present markets.
Trying additional out, Fenix desires its footprint to cowl the higher Center Jap area, from Morocco to Pakistan.
“This can be a area with comparable traits to Southeast Asia — giant inhabitants however numerous and extremely fragmented — that requires large administration consideration to unlock, creating the chance for a regional champion,” mentioned Dhanoa.
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