GoCatch raises $3 million to turbocharge rapid growth

Taxi booking app goCatch has closed an oversubscribed funding round at $3 million in new funds to drive their growth across Australia and look to expand overseas.

Co-founder and chief executive Andrew Campbell told StartupSmart the funds would enable them to wrestle a larger portion of the $4.5 billion in taxi fares per year, and to begin expanding overseas.

“We have several international market opportunities we’re considering right now, although our primary focus is on Australia. We’re fortunate to be able to pick and choose our international market, but we want to do it cautiously once we’ve got the model right,” Campbell says, adding they’ll determine their international market based on size, regulatory risk and the strength of the possible partners.

Campbell says the funds will enhance their aggressive growth strategy .They currently have over 16,000 registered taxi drivers across every capital city in Australia, and are growing 20% month-on-month.

The new funds come from a range of smaller investment houses such as Tank Stream Ventures, high-net worth individuals and newly merged venture capital heavyweight Square Peg Capital.

GoCatch’s focus will be on increasing the volume of jobs going through the app. Campbell says the opportunity to work with so many online founders as investors and advisors was really exciting for his team.

“We’ve been fortunate to secure investment from some amazing people, and we’re already tapping into their minds and networks in order to build value for the business,” Campbell says.

In a statement, Tank Stream Ventures investment manager Rui Rodrigues said they were excited about goCatch’s growth so far, and looking forward to being part of the next phase.

“We were delighted to follow on our investment in goCatch. The team has made excellent progress in a short timeframe, and continues to grow at an astounding rate. We’re particularly excited about the fast rate of growth of local web marketplaces like goCatch, as well as the underlying business models they represent,” Rodrigues said.

Square Peg Capital partner Dan Krasnostein said in a statement they were drawn to goCatch’s disruptive potential.

“Few start-ups have the potential to disrupt an entire industry – goCatch is one of them. I’m excited that Square Peg can be a part of that process,” Krasnostein said.