Cabify, the first national unicorn (digital companies that reach a valuation of 1,000 million), is convinced that it can help change mobility in the large cities of Spain and also do so in a sustainable way. It looks at other European capitals that have a considerably higher number of VTC (transport vehicle with driver) licenses and sees options to try to increase its services in Madrid or Barcelona, as long as the autonomous communities allow it, since they depend on them. administrative authorizations.
The company led by Juan de Antonio currently has its eyes set on the Community of Madrid, essentially the epicenter of VTCs. According to data from the Ministry of Transport, today there are almost 9,000 licenses in the Madrid autonomy. In Catalonia there is just over a third. In 2018, Cabify requested around 25,000 authorizations to operate in the capital and now sees room to grow. Its objective is to demonstrate that the mobility competition is not with the taxi, but with the private car, which is the cause of daily traffic jams in large cities.
Cabify has requested from the Community of Madrid, completing the appropriate administrative documentation, 4,456 new VTC licenses, which the Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso will now have to review. The company has relied on various rulings from the Supreme Court that call on the autonomy to review the request for 2018 authorizations again without taking into account the ratio of 1/30 (one VTC for every 30 taxis), a limit that was considered contrary to law by the Court of Justice of the European Union. Business sources report that in 2018 Cabify requested about 1,000 new licenses in Catalonia, but the difference with Madrid is that at this time no ruling has been resolved that calls on the Generalitat to review its position regarding VTCs.
How many new licenses will Madrid grant? It's an unknown at this point. But Cabify is clear that if they manage to add more licenses in the capital and their project helps improve mobility, other cities could study expanding licenses. It is true that competition with taxis continues to exist and that the situation in Catalonia is more complex than in Madrid. Elite Taxi has just achieved that VTC drivers are required to speak Catalan, a measure aimed at curbing competition. The decision, if Cabify ends up claiming new licenses, will depend on the Generalitat.
Cabify wants to “make cities better places to live through sustainable mobility,” explains the company, and “materialize it through integration into city strategies.” Not only with vehicles with drivers. The startup has also incorporated taxi services and 2,000 electric motorcycles for rent per minute throughout Spain to its application. “We should all understand that competition in mobility is not between taxis and Cabify, but between all means of sustainable mobility and private cars,” defended De Antonio.
Spain is currently at the bottom of European cities with a lower ratio of vehicles with drivers per inhabitant. In London they have a ratio of 12.1 VTC per 1,000 citizens; in Dublin it is 9.7, and in Paris, 6.4. Madrid, for its part, has 3.6. The margin for growth is wide, defends Cabify.
The mobility company is currently present in seven countries (Spain, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay) and 40 cities. In 2022, the latest data available pending the audit of the 2023 accounts, the company had a turnover of 688 million on a global scale, which has led it to reach a break-even point in terms of profitability, he assures. With more than 1,000 employees, the startup led by De Antonio closed the 2022 financial year with 91 million journeys between VTC trips, motorcycle trips and its logistics division. It has 50 million users and 1.5 million collaborating drivers.
