Gett, the ride-hailing app that more than half of London black cabs run on, has raised $80m (£58.9m) in a round led by Volkswagen, taking the firms valuation up to $1.4bn.
Though only small compared to Uber and Lyfts valuations of $62bn and $11bn respectively, Gett is now predicted to beat them both to global profitability by the end of the first quarter in 2019 across its 120 cities, excluding research and development costs.
The platform has now raised over $700m to date, operating across Europe and in New York under the name of acquired firm Juno, which Gett bought for $200m last year.
Read more: Uber applies for 18-month permit in run-up to licence appeal
Getts founder and CEO Dave Waiser said that New York is currently its fastest growing market, now running alongside London with more than 50 per cent of the citys driver base registered on the app.
Gett also prides itself on having a strict quality policy in place, only signing drivers with a rating of 4.8 or higher. Waiser believes this, alongside its commitment to getting its ride-hailing focus right before expanding to other mobility options like bike-sharing and self-driving tech, will stand the firm well in the long run where competitors have spread themselves thin at the expense of profitability.
Read more: Uber CEO says it is in talks to team up with rival Waymo on driverless cars
Based in Israel, the firm holds deals with more than 13,000 businesses to offer corporate taxi bookings, and estimates that it sells $1bn worth of journeys annually, with more than half of that number coming from London and New York.
Waiser said that all major shareholders took part in the round, including Access Industries, Baring Vistok and MCI.
[contf] [contfnew] 
CityAM
[contfnewc] [contfnewc]
