FastGo, a Vietnamese tech company, plans to enter the ride-share markets in Brazil and the US this year thanks to investors hailing from those countries.
Citing plans to raise US$50 million in the first part of 2019, FastGo CEO Nguyen Huu Tuat shared his plans with VnExpress earlier this week. Other than VinaCapital Ventures, which contributed US$3 million last year, the company has not disclosed who its current or potential investors are.
The cross-Pacific move follows an expansion to Myanmar on December 28 thanks to a partnership with Asia Sun Group. They now have 1,000 partner drivers in Yangon and Tuat hopes to build a user base of two million users in the country by the end of the year. While not often seen on Saigon streets, the upstart service claims to have 30,000 drivers in the country spread across 10 different provinces, representing 20% of the market.
The company also plans to set up operation in Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore in the near future. Tuat explained: "Grab, Go-Jek and Uber have raised a lot of money for expansion and development. However, they are burning money for marketing. FastGo's advantage is not money but its strategy, and we now focus on grabbing market share as fast as we can by offering better options."
FastGo differentiates itself from its competitors by not charging drivers a commission, instead taking a flat fee of VND30,000 if they earn more than VND400,000 a day. They also claim to not using surge pricing. They also plan to introduce "on-demand multi-services eco-system including daily rides, travel, transportation, catering and personal finance," according to Tuat.
