Snapp! () is an Iranian

vehicle for hire A vehicle for hire is a vehicle providing private transport or shared transport for a fee, in which passengers are generally free to choose their points or approximate points of origin and destination, unlike public transport, and which th ...

company, headquartered in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

that launched in February 2014. Users can request a ride via the iOS, Android, or web application, by indicating their location and destination. The price of the trip is set beforehand, to eliminate bargaining. Snapp! commissions drivers upon completing a

background check A background check is a process a person or company uses to verify that an individual is who they claim to be, and this provides an opportunity to check and confirm the validity of someone's criminal record, education, employment history, and oth ...

, and showing a valid driver's license and insurance before hiring them. Along with Tapsi, Snapp! is the most popular ride-hailing platform in Iran.

Funding and Operations

The company launched in 2014 as Taxi Yaab and experienced rapid growth in the first three years. In October 2016, the company received a $20 million investment in a Series A round led by

MTN Group MTN Group Limited, formerly M-Cell, is a South African multinational mobile telecommunications company, operating in many African and Asian countries. Its head office is in Johannesburg. , MTN recorded 280 million subscribers, making it the ...

, a South African

multinational corporation A multinational company (MNC), also referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE), a transnational enterprise (TNE), a transnational corporation (TNC), an international corporation or a stateless corporation with subtle but contrasting senses, i ...

. According to a 2017 interview with Shahram Shahkar, the former CEO of the company, Snapp! employs more than 300,000 active drivers and more than 500 other personnel at that time. Snapp rebranded itself and changed its logo in 2019. As of 2019, Snapp in Tehran was larger than Uber in any city. As of December 2020, Snaap had 85% of Iran's market share with operations in 34 cities. Via its 1.5 million drivers, it provided two million rides per day and is credited with a major shift in how Irainians use taxis.

Products

In order to evade sanctions and appear on the app store, Snapp had to disguise itself as a music app. Similar to other companies such as Uber, Lyft, Snapp features other options including: Snapp Taxi, Snapp Bike (for motorcycles), Snapp Box (for parcels) and Snapp Club (a loyalty program).

Subsidiaries

Initially, Iran Internet Group was supposedly the holding company behind Snapp!. IIG also held other companies such as Bamilo and ZoodFood. Later on, it renamed or shut down some of these services in favor of expanding Snapp! from a transportation-focused company to a more general tech company. Because of this, the ZoodFood service was renamed to Snapp! Food and the online retail store known as Bamilo was shut down and redirected to the Snapp! Market website.

Lawsuit

Snapp was sued by TAPSI in an anti trust lawsuit which was dismissed by council of competition.

References

External links