Beat Withdraws From Latin America To Focus On European Operations

On Tuesday, Nov. 8, ride-sharing app Beat announced in a LinkedIn statement that it is leaving Latin America to concentrate on its operations in Europe, Reuters reported.

The startup began functioning in Latin America in the year 2019. It was founded by the automakers BMW and Mercedes Benz and first debuted in Greece in 2011.

The decision of the company's shareholders to stop investing in the Latin American region, where Beat operates, is due to a clear strategic choice to focus on its core European markets was released through a statement.

The statement said, “Due to a clear strategic decision of the shareholders to focus on its core European markets, our shareholders have made the decision to stop investing in the Latin American region, where Beat operates.

”With a fleet of Tesla electric vehicles, the business hoped to compete with big players like Uber and Didi across the continent, vowing to fill the “green ride-hailing” gap. Beat also provided less expensive regular car rides for customers who were unwilling to pay the premium pricing demanded in those usual trips.

According to an early news release, Beat, which is owned by the FREE NOW taxi group, also made an effort to distinguish itself by making part of its driver fleet employees, rather than self-employed workers.

In an email to the users, Beat said it would cease to operate in Mexico, Argentina, and Peru as of Nov. 9, said reports.

Beat operates a taxi and ride-hailing mobile app for smartphones and other mobile devices. Beat's headquarters are located in Athens, Greece. About 90 percent of the company’s ride-booking activity is in Latin America, where more than 250,000 drivers work with the app.

Formerly known as Taxibeat, the company was founded in 2011 by Nikos Drandakis in collaboration with associates Nikos Damilakis, Kostis Sakkas, and Michael Sfictos. The ride-hailing service was acquired by MyTaxi in February 2017 and was soon renamed Beat. MyTaxi is a subsidiary of the automotive manufacturer Daimler AG.

Today the company is part of the FREE NOW group, the ride-hailing joint venture of BMW and Daimler.