Irish taxi app Lynk takes on Uber/Hailo

Competition in the taxi app market stepped up a notch this week, with the launch of Lynk.

The Irish-founded taxi app is hoping to take on Hailo and Uber.

Developed by Global Taxi's tech team, Lynk employs more than 170 people through its 24-hour customer service team and administration based in Dublin 8. Lynk founder and managing director Noel Ebbs said the company's customer service team will be able to take queries 24 hour a day "ensuring a secure arrival for all customers to their destination".

He said the Lynk service aims to operate in the top end of the Taxi market, and has more than 2,500 drivers on its fleet.

“Our goal when we created this app was to deliver a reliable, friendly, Irish service for all of our customers,” he said.

“Run by Irish people, for communities and businesses in Dublin big or small.” The app includes the facility to make bookings in advance of any required journey and customers can make multiple bookings at the same time.

Lynk will also automatically search for another driver in the event that the original driver has to cancel.

Consumers can also pay for the taxi trip via the app, which can be linked to a debit or credit card, so no cash is needed.

The app is available to download through Apple’s App Store and Google Play.

Lynk’s rivals Hailo and Uber have been going head to head in recent months.

Last year, Hailo announced it was pulling out of the North American market, saying it was “impossible” to become profitable in the United States as Uber and Lyft were waging a cut-throat war to become the premier car-sharing service.

Hailo also blamed the “the astronomical marketing spend required to compete” for its decision to quit the US and Canada.

The company, which has more than 400,000 registered users in Ireland, says it now plans to ramp up its operations in Ireland and the rest of Europe.

Uber says that it currently has “tens of thousands” of users in Dublin.