Summon (company)

Summon (originally InstantCab) was a vehicle for hire company operating in portions of Silicon Valley. The company was shut down in November 2014.

Summon
IndustryTransportation
FoundedJanuary 2012 (2012-01)
FounderAarjav Trivedi
DefunctNovember 2014 (2014-11)
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California, United States
Area served
San Francisco, California, United States
ServicesVehicle for hire
Websiteblog.summon.com

Customers were able to pay with Google Wallet.[1]

History

The idea for Summon came after Aarjav Trivedi, its CEO and Founder, waited for over an hour for a bus and then a cab to take him to the airport. He missed an international flight because both were late. Trivedi created InstantCab (later rebranded as Summon) to give people a simple, fast, reliable, and inexpensive form of transportation. Previously, Trivedi founded RideCell which focused on fleet automation to making on-demand transportation fleets easier to manage and access.

Summon was selected to participate in the Winter 2012 Y Combinator meet.[2] Summon received funding in 2012 from venture capital and angel investors in Silicon Valley including Khosla Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, General Catalyst, Andreessen Horowitz, Facebook Ex-COO Owen Van Natta and Delicious founder Joshua Schachter.[2]

In February 2014, after rebranding from InstantCab to Summon, the company raised another round of funding from existing investors and new investors such as BMW Ventures.[3][4]

The company also offered drivers extra pay to transport disabled passengers.[5]

Drivers

Taxi drivers were able to sign up to drive for Summon. Taxi drivers were able to get a credit card swiper from Summon for use with street hails or non-Summon customers.[6]

Surge pricing

Summon opposed a dynamic pricing model.[7] Instead of surge pricing, Summon used flat fares on busy times and event days.[8] In addition, it offers a FareBack program, which gives customers a portion of their ride cost back as credits to use on future Summon rides.[9]

Regulatory issues

On March 8, 2013, Summon received a cease and desist letter from San Francisco International Airport, claiming that its community drivers were trespassing by unlawfully conducting business operations on airport property without a permit. Summon responded that its personal drivers were complying with the law because they were not picking up customers at the airport or engaging in commercial activities on airport property.[10][11]

Other vehicle for hire companies operating in San Francisco also received similar cease and desist letters from San Francisco International Airport.[12]

In September 2013, the California Public Utilities Commission legalized vehicle for hire companies.[13][14] Summon was the first ridesharing company to receive its operating permit from the California Public Utilities Commission, which it received on February 24, 2014.[15]

References
  1. "Easily Pay for Summon Rides with Google Wallet!". Summon.
  2. Lawler, Ryan (March 15, 2013). "Y Combinator-Backed Summon Provides a Hybrid Alternative to Ride-Sharing and Taxi Apps". TechCrunch.
  3. Lawler, Ryan (February 19, 2014). "With Funding From BMW And Khosla Ventures, InstantCab rebrands as Summon". TechCrunch.
  4. "InstantCab Rebrands as Summon, Backed by BMW in Expansion Round". The Wall Street Journal. February 19, 2014.
  5. Said, Carolyn (April 16, 2014). "As Uber, Lyft, Sidecar grow, so do concerns of disabled". San Francisco Chronicle.
  6. "O% (Yes, Zero!) Credit Card Processing Fees and Same Day Deposit for Taxi and Commercial Drivers". Summon.
  7. Said, Carolyn (April 16, 2014). "Summon matches Uber, Lyft price cuts". San Francisco Chronicle.
  8. "Delivering when it counts the most: Flat Fares on New Year's Eve". Summon.
  9. YEUNG, KEN (January 11, 2014). "InstantCab unveils new FareBack program to save riders up to 30% on trips, adds 3x more drivers". TheNextWeb.
  10. "Letter from the San Francisco International Airport". Summon.
  11. Huet, Ellen (July 30, 2013). "Ride-share drivers cited at SFO for trespassing". San Francisco Chronicle.
  12. Lawler, Ryan (April 4, 2013). "SFO Serves Cease-And-Desist Letters to Keep Ride-Sharing Companies From Operating at the Airport". TechCrunch.
  13. Yeung, Ken (September 19, 2013). "California Becomes First State To Regulate Ridesharing Services benefiting Uber, Lyft, Sidecar, and Summon". TheNextWeb.
  14. Healey, Jon (July 30, 2013). "State to L.A.: Hands off Uber, Lyft, Sidecar and Summon". Los Angeles Times.
  15. Said, Carolyn (April 16, 2014). "THE TECHNOLOGY CHRONICLES: Summon gets first California "rideshare" permit". San Francisco Chronicle.
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