‘Excited for eCabs to be flying Malta’s flag in the international ride-hailing industry’ – Matthew Bezzina

eCabs Technologies Founder and CEO Matthew Bezzina has expressed excitement at the idea of the company increasing Malta’s presence in the international ride-hailing industry.

This comes as the company on Monday announced that it is set to launch a new ride-hailing platform in Athens, Greece in September. The platform, named taxi.gr, was developed at the eCabs headquarters in St Julian’s, Malta, and providers riders with what is described as a “seamless online ride-hailing solution”, and a source of “safe and flexible work” for drivers, “empowering anyone to move and work on their own terms”.

This marks the first territory where eCabs Technologies’ ride-hailing platform is being launched with the company also planning to do so in other international jurisdictions.

Mr Bezzina said that the upcoming launch is the fruition of years of research and development, and months of collaboration with partners in Greece.

“We are really proud of what we have created and what the company has accomplished. Growing eCabs from a small three-man startup in 2010 to a group of companies employing over 400 people and a technology company with industry-leading talent,” he explained.

“Now we are excited for eCabs to be flying the Maltese flag in the international ride-hailing industry beyond Malta’s shores,” he continued.

The transportation market at Athens presents eCabs with an “exciting opportunity”, as it has a population of more than three million people and has more than six million tourist arrivals, yet a significant portion of Greek rides are still “waved down from the curb or booked over the phone”. Therefore, ride-hailing options for users remain “largely offline”.

However, the industry is facing a digital transformation at a global level, and as a result, eCabs Technologies sought to provide a “dynamic solution that caters to the needs of both riders and drivers alike”.

“At eCabs Technologies we believe that by digitising the transport sector, we can unlock its potential. This is what we have been driving towards every day. Taking our tech to new, exciting jurisdictions like Athens is a big step towards achieving this goal,” Mr Bezzina explained.

eCabs’ engineering team in Malta developed a turn key, white-label tech solution which enables businesses from all over the world to use the platform to launch their brands in different jurisdictions. The solution is also developed with bespoke country and city-specific features.

The taxi.gr platform being launched in Greece features a new in-app pricing model that based on the metering requirements set by Hellenic transport regulators.

Mr Bezzina said that all new tailormade technology components that are developed in Malta for specific countries will “further enrich” the eCabs Technologies platform.

These features are designed with the aim to provide “optimal support” for international partners through “efficient deployment of country-specific features that respect different jurisdictions’ needs and regulations”.

Mr Bezzina also acknowledged that this milestone would not have been possible without the support of Malta Development Bank (MDB).

“The MDB has supported this project from the start, believing in our relentless mission to internationalise and take our locally built technology overseas. We are thankful for their trust and their support to help finance this growth which has helped make our vision a reality,” he added.

For the launch of taxi.gr in Athens, eCabs Technologies has partnered with a major player in the Greek transportation industry, and Mr Bezzina remarked that the eCabs team is “excited to be working with them”.

“This is an exciting time for us. eCabs is moving from local to international, empowering ride-hailing by taking our technology beyond our home shores, one partnership at a time,” Mr Bezzina said.