After several rumours about the service being shut down, Rocket Internet backed carpooling service Tripda finally officially announces that it is shutting down on March 4. The reports regarding the company’s closing started circling the Internet after rumours pointed towards the fact that it was unable to raise a Series B funding round.
Founded in 2014 in Sao Paolo, Brazil and brought to the US in November of the same year, Tripda went up against the likes of Zimride, Carpooling.com, Rdvouz and others offering long-distance ride-sharing services. The service currently operated in 13 countries which include a number of places in South America, the US and Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Singapore and Taiwan.
The service was fairly popular in all of its operating regions. The reason the company says it’s shutting down is because operating costs were going out of bounds. But this is just the company’s way of saying that it is unable to find investors.
Another reason for the fall of Tripda is that carpooling business in the US was overrated and now companies seem to be having a hard time maintaining market strength.
Tripda says that it was able to provide service to over 1 million travelers, in 13 different countries. The company also says that its drivers and passengers had an unparalleled collaborative experience, rating each other with 5 stars in 95% of the rides.
The carpooling service had reportedly raised $11 million from Rocket Internet and other, unnamed investors over its operation time. It was notable for being one of the few startups to be backed by Rocket Internet operating in the US.
The company says that it will stay fully operational until Friday and any rides booked until then can be enjoyed by the customers.
Here’s what Team Tripda had to say about the shut down on the official site:
Our ride ends here
Tripda will be closed on March 4th. Util then, please make sure to get all the information of your driver/passenger and confirm future trips
Transforming the way people travel has always been our goal. We believe that through ride sharing people can travel in a cheaper, greener, friendlier and faster way. And for two years, we have helped bringing this vision to bear.
Tripda helped over 1 million travelers, in 13 different countries, to find a match and have a genuinely great trip. Meeting through our platform, drivers and passengers had an unparalleled collaborative experience, rating each other with 5 stars in 95% of the rides. And this is exactly what we aimed for.
And yet, despite the success of our community, our operating costs became too high, and we had to reassess our prospects. Given the inherent challenge of funding our operation as it continues to grow, we realized it was time to bring our ride to an end, discontinuing the Tripda platform as it is today.
This does not mean you will miss the ride you have already booked. Until Friday, March 4th, the platform will be open for you to check your booked trips and arrange the details with your travel buddy.
Tripda´s ride ends here, but we will all continue to travel, and here are other innovative solutions you may want to try on your next trip:
Once again, thank you for the strong support and for helping us build our community. We loved this ride and we believe that life will always be about the journey. So keep sharing!
Wishing you all the best,
Tripda team.
