An Australian-founded ride-sharing company has relocated its HQ to London and opened a comprehensive support centre for the 90,000 drivers working in the capital.
Splend, which is backed by Investec, is also making a significant investment in its leadership team in the UK with new executive hires from Deliveroo, Addison Lee and Argos.
The company provides eco-friendly and affordable cars to on-demand drivers who work for companies like Uber. It says drivers also benefit from training, analytics and a community it provides.
Splend also handles financing, insurance and maintenance.
“Ride-sharing can be a tough gig. Splend exists to help drivers succeed by making sure on-demand driving works for them – not the other way around,” said CEO and founder Chris King.
“Splend has grown quickly and established a reputation as innovators in the industry – and this is reflected in the high calibre of the staff that we’re attracting.
“The UK, which is home to over 250,000 ride-share drivers, is the ideal base for us to continue our global expansion.
“The investment we’ve made in the new HQ and driver hub marks a significant milestone in our journey to support ride-share drivers all around the world.”
Founded in Sydney in 2015, Splend has raised $10 million equity to date and expanded to nine cities in Europe, the Americas and Australia, whilst building a global team of over 150 employees.
As part of its UK launch, Splend has made a series of senior hires. David Moggs has been appointed CTO, joining from Argos, whilst Gizem Akyil moves from Deliveroo to become Splend’s head of expansion, and UK country manager Justin Patterson joins from Addison Lee.
Splend’s new driver hub, a 2,300 square metre facility in Cricklewood, enables members to collect their cars, catch up with their personal account manager, get advanced driver training and join community events.
The company has also partnered with London-based InsurTech Zego to insure its UK fleet, with the cover based on telematics and priced by the mile. Both companies will also share data, using insights on driver behaviour to promote safe driving.