When it bought Austin transportation app maker RideScout in 2014, German automotive giant Daimler AG said RideScout was a key piece in crafting an all-in-one transportation app company.
On Thursday that vision became reality, as Daimler AG said RideScout and Portland, Ore.-based GlobeSherpa would be merged into one company, rebranded and operated out of a new Portland-based headquarters.
The new combined company will be renamed Moovel North America LLC. It will operate under existing Daimler unit Moovel Group GmbH, which is based in Germany. Moovel Group GmgH also includes Daimler’s Car2Go business, which launched in Germany in 2008 and now operates in dozens of cities worldwide including Austin.
For Daimler AG -- which operates luxury brand Mercedes-Benz -- the idea is to turn its transportation service options into an all-in-one service that would let consumers track public transportation options, buy a ticket and reserve a ridesharing option through a single smartphone app.
That would combine the options offered by carsharing service Car2go, by RideScout -- whose mobile app lets users search and find rides through various ground transportation options -- and GlobeSherpa, which is a mobile ticketing app.
Credit: Claudia Grisales
Credit: Claudia Grisales
Moovel (rhymes with “Google”) North America will be led by former GlobeSherpa CEO Nat Parker, who will split his time between his Portland and Austin offices. Joseph Kopser, co-founder and former CEO of RideScout, will be president of Moovel Group GmbH. Parker and Kopser will report to Jörg Lamparter, global CEO of Moovel Group GmbH.
Moovel North America will be “working to create a future for urban mobility,” said Parker, who co-founded GlobeSherpa. “Transportation is no longer just a question of options, but of convenience and ease of use. Our exceptional teams in Portland and Austin are in pursuit of the most seamless experience for both transportation providers and consumers to define the future of mobility.”
Moovel will offer two products, Moovel and RideTap, executives said Thursday.
“At Moovel, we believe that mobility should be an ecosystem; a group of interconnected transportation modes that form the fabric of our cities,” Lamparter said. “Our goal is to innovate within this ecosystem, providing more choices and convenience to customers worldwide”
The merger process began in 2014, when Daimler AG said it was acquiring RideScout and entering the ridesharing/ride-hailing business. The deal was worth less than $100 million, the Wall Street Journal reported at the time.
In July 2015, RideScout said it had acquired GlobeSherpa, which it said would expand its booking and payment options by letting users view their transportation options, select their option and pay for the ride through the same app.
RideScout has ramped up its offerings in the past year — it's now available in 69 cities — and even piloted an electric shuttle service in downtown Austin last summer. GlobeSherpa, meanwhile, has been offering its mobile book-and-pay ticketing services in a number of U.S. cities, including Portland, San Francisco and Chicago.
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