CEO

Anytime you go traveling, you want your transportation to be taken care of. That’s where Taxi2Airport comes in. The company has enjoyed meteoric growth in recent years and they currently drive people to and from 600 airports around the world. As easy as Uber, but pre-booked and with the service and reliability of an established taxi company. And they aren’t done yet. Every day, countless amounts of people need to make their flights. It’s safe to say Taxi2Airport is aware of the untapped potential: from further international expansion to strengthening their proposition in the B2B market. The new CEO takes advantage of these opportunities and leads the business through the next rounds of financing and eventually through a successful exit.

A CAREFREE HOLIDAY WITH TAXI2AIRPORT

People can easily book their taxis to and from the airport in advance both on Taxi2Airport’s website and by using their app. Days, weeks or months in advance you indicate what your travel schedule will look like. You’ll be picked up at home and driven to the airport in a timely fashion. When you’ve reached your destination, a driver will take you to your hotel and the day you fly back, a driver will take you back to the airport. Everything is prepaid, so there won’t be any hassle with cash or credit cards. This way, you can go on holiday without a care in the world; no more navigating through local public transport or waiting for unreliable taxi’s.

Taxi2Airport only works with licensed and carefully selected taxi companies. This ensures Taxi2Airport’s customer service consistently gets rated as the best in their sector. A driver not showing up is something that almost never happens with Taxi2Aiport; it occurs more frequently while using other platforms.

Taxi2Airport is growing rapidly and is well on its way towards becoming one of the largest taxi providers in the world. Their services are currently available worldwide in over 200 countries. During their busiest weekend, Taxi2Airport arranges a cab ride nearly every minute of the day, somewhere in the world. The company doubles their turnover and the number of rides on a yearly basis.

CAREFULLY SELECTED PARTNERSHIPS

One of Taxi2Airport’s success factors is their extensive network of local cab businesses; over 2700 are already connected. Taxi2Airport also works with large tour operators. At an increasing rate, they offer complete door-to-door vacations, on which Taxi2Airport takes care of the transportation to and from the airport. The company has partnerships with Dutch travel service providers like TUI, Neckermann, and Kras as well as Thomas Cook in Belgium.

One of the most promising partnerships is the one with WeChat Go Europe, which is a part of the extremely popular Chinese social media app WeChat. During their travels through Europe, Chinese travelers were already using WeChat to find out where the best shops and restaurants are located and which sights are worth visiting. Now, they can also book their transportation easily through WeChat Europe and Taxi2Aiport will make sure they’ll reach their destination safely and comfortably.

CONTINUING THEIR METEORIC GROWTH

Taxi2Airport has a large international footprint. Over 60 percent of their turnover comes from Europe, with The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, France, Italy and England as its most prominent markets. The remaining 40 percent comes from the United States and Southeast Asia. To ensure optimal service in all these different countries, Taxi2Airport has implemented service points in multiple time zones.

“In recent years, we’ve grown very rapidly and we expect to break even at the beginning of next year. For us, this is a sign to kick things into gear even more. We want to keep growing, the faster, the better. Organically or with new growth capital? Through an international expansion or via the B2B market? The answer is all of the above.” – Gertjan van der Schaft, co-founder and current CEO

One of the ways the company wants to continue on their ambitious growth trajectory is through further international expansion. Taxi2Airport is thinking about strengthening their presence in the US and Singapore markets and they’re looking into further expansion in Europe. They’re also working on their B2B proposition. Up until now, the business was mainly focused on the consumer market, however, the B2B market is also filled with opportunity.

UNDER VENTUREBUILDERS’ WINGS

VentureBuilders is Taxi2Airport’s major shareholder. VentureBuilders helps entrepreneurs who are just starting out in setting up a successful tech business. They offer access to the right people, bring expertise to the table and they support early stage start-ups financially.

“Taxi2Airport is a rising star in our portfolio. It’s a well thought out proposition and their execution is rock solid. What makes Taxi2Airport even more interesting is the fact that their market is huge. In fact, anyone that needs transportation to and from an airport, anywhere in the world, is a potential customer.” – Paul Montagne, Managing Partner VentureBuilders

THE VACANCY: CEO

The CEO is ultimately responsible for Taxi2Airport’s performance. He/she is responsible for the P&L, decides on strategy and manages the 30 FTU strong organization.

The CEO plays a crucial role in the further expansion of the company. He/she ensures Taxi2Airport can scale up in the coming years. This includes strengthening their positioning, creating new business opportunities, optimizing the margins and cashflow, jumping on opportunities in new markets and with new target groups, and streamlining the organization.

The company has seen significant growth in recent years and expectations are that growth will continue. Every stage of growth comes with a different internal structure, with increasingly streamlined business processes and roles and responsibilities. This is also part of the CEO’s responsibilities. Additionally, he/she plays an important role in the improvement of the financial processes (like reporting, forecasting, and planning), and he/she manages the business through this financial information.

The CEO is also the face of the company, especially when it concerns large clients, partners, and investors. He/she takes the lead in future rounds of financing and in exit talks later on. The CEO also has a clear vision on what Taxi2Airport is worth and what would constitute a suitable party to move it to the next level.

EXPERIENCE

• Start-up/scale up
• Fundraising, finance, M&A
• International experience in travel, e-commerce or strategic consulting is preferred

PERSONALITY

• Analytical
• Data-driven
• Strategic
• Leader
• Finance
• Conceptual
• Connector

Taxi2Airport works with Top of Minds to fill this vacancy. Contact Auke Bijnsdorp at auke@topofminds.com for more information.