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If you were one of those who deleted Uber in protest of their relationship with President Trump, you might be looking for something to replace it with. Yes, there’s Lyft and Via etc. But there’s also an app created and owned by a Black man.
<a href="https://www.moovn.com/"><strong>Moovn</strong></a>— which is a great name by the way— was created by Godwin Gabriel of Tanzania. The app is seeking to compete with Uber and Lyft, particularly after <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/30/uber-boycott-boosts-carl-icahn-lyft-investor.html">Lyft’s own association to Trump recently came to the forefront.</a> In 2015, Carl Icahn made a $100 million investment into Lyft. Icahn was not only a supporter of Trump during the campaign, arguing that he would be better for the economy, Trump also appointed him a special advisor on regulation. Other Trump advisors have also invested in Lyft. A spokesperson for Lyft said, “We don’’t always agree with our investors and aren’t afraid to say so. We do respect their right, and that of every American, to freedom of expression.”
So…if you want to use a car service that is not connected to Trump, consider Moovn. The app, which launched in 2015, currently operates in 9 cities in North America including New York City, D.C., Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, San Francisco, Boston, Portland, Vancouver B.C.
They also have an international presence in Tanzania, Dubai, Johannesburg South Africa and Nairobi Kenya.
Unlike other car services, Moovn allows users to choose from other vehicle options, including bikes, especially in developing countries.
The emergence of the app comes as the perfect time as research has found that drivers for both <a href="http://madamenoire.com/724129/uber-and-lyft-discriminate/">Lyft and Uber have been known to discriminate against Black clients. </a>
In an interview with <a href="http://urbangeekz.com/2016/10/african-american-launches-ride-sharing-app-compete-uber-lyft/"><em>Urban Geekz</em></a>, Gabriel explained that he taught himself coding and developing software in order to launch the app. Despite the work he put in, he says that the first launch of the app was “amateurish at best.” But things changed when he received backing from investors. “It wasn’t until we received investor backing that I was able to hire and collaborate with a team of seasoned developers to transform the platform into what we have today.”
Before the Uber debacle, Gabriel told <a href="http://www.geekwire.com/2016/moovn-technologies/"><em>GeekWire</em></a>, “Being a late-comer in this space allows us to learn from our competitors’ missteps, which has helped us strategically navigate our own course towards continued growth.”
While Gabriel says it has been difficult to break into the market with giants like Uber and Lyft, he says that they are confident that they’ll be able to provide a much needed service to the global market.
According to Clutch the interface is easy to navigate and use. And the app does not increase pricing based on weather conditions or due to increased traffic. It is available for both Apple and Android users.
You can check out the website here.
And download the app <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/app/moovn/id1001122843?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4"><strong>here</strong></a> (Apple) and <strong><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Moovn+Technologies">here</a></strong> (Android.)
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