Get your fingers to the app store! A new ridesharing company is set to launch in Austin on June 1. Yes, that’s right: Boston-based Fasten, Inc. will be picking up Austinites and central Texas tourists alike starting on Wednesday.
They hope to fill the void by offering a straightforward service. “We’re in the business of selling rides without hassle, without gimmicks, and without fluctuating prices,” the company explained in an advisory.
Even with only one city under its belt, Fasten seems to have the finances to growfull enough to expand to Austin. According to The Austin Business Journal:
The company has $9.1 million in disclosed investor funding so far, making it the TNC with the deepest pockets in town. Other upstarts already operating in the Austin market include Dallas-based Get Me LLC and Phoenix Arizona-based Ride Fare LLC, but neither of those have disclosed more than $4 million in venture financing.
This is probably one of the reasons why Austin’s new regulations brought on by Prop 1 don’t bother the company.
“We investigated the regulations. We talked to the drivers, and they were fine to get fingerprinted,” Fasten CEO Kirill Edvakov said. “If people voted for this, it should not stop us from doing our service. It is not a deal breaker. Yes, it is a little bit more complicated and sophisticated process but that’s what people want.”
To gear up for the launch, Fasten has been onboarding new driver and launching social media campaigns with promo codes. The Fasten app is available in both the Apple and Google Play stores.
Now that the competition for Austin’s drivers and riders is heating up, it will be interesting to see which service will come out on top. It’s not just startups that are getting in on the opportunity: The newly formed nonprofit RideAustin is set to launch at some point in June, making the playing field even more diverse.
Which new ridesharing service are you most excited to try out?
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Featured photo courtesy of Fasten
