Jay Bregman: Hailo

Jay Bregman, 33
Company: Hailo
Web: www.hailocab.com

Hailo is using the ubiquity of smartphones in order to help out anyone who’s spent too long trying to find a cab (so, all of us), as well as cabbies themselves. Its black cab app allows users to hail, virtually, a licensed taxi in just a couple of taps on their phone. Cab drivers use the app to ensure they get the most number of jobs in a shift they can. The app also works for drivers as a social network, allowing them to share information with each other (on traffic, say). By January 2012, the app had been downloaded 150,000 times. The company represents Bregman’s second bite of the cherry – the first start-up he was involved with was the incredibly successful e-Courier – and so far has raised around $20m from investors.

2013 update:

Less than six months on from being named a Young Gun, Bregman is experiencing global success, having facilitated more than 2.5 million passenger journeys across ten international cities including Dublin, Boston, Chicago and Toronto.

With sales in excess of $100m, Hailo attracted the attention of Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson, who contributed to a $30m funding round in February 2013. Led by New York-based Union Square Ventures, who previously backed Twitter and Tumblr, the round is set to support Hailo’s launch into the huge taxi market of New York, planned for the first quarter. Similarly, contribution to the funding round from Japanese telco KDDI is set to boost the firm’s planned Tokyo launch. With further launches planned across Washington DC, Madrid and Barcelona, 2013 looks set to be a busy year for our Young Gun.