LAHORE – Flo by Shahi Sawari, a leading local ridesharing platform, recently launched daily commute services in Lahore.
The platform provides first of its kind app-based, door-to-door daily commute services on a monthly subscription model. The company has launched two products: Flo Kids (flokids.com) and Flo (rideflo.com), catering to different market needs.
Flo Kids provides monthly school pick and drop services for school going kids. While Flo pool offers a monthly subscription for daily pick and drops to people travelling for work or education. Available vehicle formats include AC mini-vans, cars and rickshaws at the moment. Since its pilot launch in October 2019, thousands of daily trips are now completed on Flo.
The company is currently operating in Lahore and plans to expand operations in other metropolises such as Faisalabad, Islamabad, and Karachi.
The tech-based platform offers unique features like door-to-door pick and drops services; same verified drivers for daily travel, and live trip tracking to ensure reliable, secure and convenient services for the users.
They offer carpool as well as dedicated transportation services to cater to various consumer needs. The app uses algorithms to calculate fares on the basis of distance from users’ pickup locations to destinations. Product’s carpooling feature makes it considerably affordable compared to other on-demand transportation services available.
The co-founders Mehras Tayyab, CEO; Junaid Mir, COO; and Hashim Zahid the CTO saw a dire need for a more sustainable and long-term transportation solution for daily travel in Pakistan.
Recognizing the need, especially in traffic-heavy, big metropolises, the co-founders decided to build a product that was better suited for the needs of Pakistani urban population and infrastructure. The team has raised more than 1 mil USD investment through angel investors and notable local VCs including 47 Ventures and CresVentures.
Mr Mehras said: “Our vision is to build a transportation network that would resolve a majority of daily commute issues currently prevalent in our cities due to the lack of a public mass transit system.”
Technology and innovation have made it much easier to curate solutions for problems that have haunted us for a long time. “It is, therefore, crucial for the authorities to support local startups that are working to improve systems and hence the living standards of general masses,” he added.
“The daily commute is a great hassle for many in Pakistan, but our mantra is that it doesn’t have to be. Since it is an unavoidable part of our lives, it is only fair that people be given a permanent and reliable solution for their daily commute.”
