The emerging passenger transport services company High believes that today's market based on freelancers is inherently broken. Drivers' wages are depressed by the costs of owning and maintaining a vehicle, passengers are not guaranteed high-quality service, cities have had to deal with angry taxi drivers, and app-based companies themselves have undercharging users to expand into new markets are yet to see the gains from a growth-at-all-costs mindset.
The company's founders have taken more control over the entire ride-sharing experience to solve those problems. The startup actually leases its own fleet of hail vehicles, employs drivers, and is regulated as a trucking company. Yes, that means that it is more expensive to travel than a Lyft o Uber average, but the CEO Will Coleman say what High it is not for everyone; it is for customers who are both more willing to pay and to expect something good. Hence the name: «High» means high or above.
Earlier this month, High It launched its service in San Francisco, its sixth market in the US. The startup also operates in Dallas, Houston, Miami, Washington, DC and Los Angeles, and says it continues to expand its model. Till the date, High has around 2.000 drivers on their platform that they manage 400 vehicles and is waiting for a shipment from 600 more vehicles.
High it's just one of many new startups hoping to fix the many flaws of the freelancer model. Revel, for example, has a fleet of teslas conducted exclusively by employees in New York, and Earth is doing something similar in Texas.
High, which last raised a $45 million Series B in the summer of 2021, says it has grown 420% year over year and attributes this growth to a differentiated level of service.
“We needed to employ our drivers so that we could not only select and test them, but more importantly, train them and manage their performance to deliver a consistent, high-quality experience to our passengers.” said Coleman. "We own the vehicles so we can clean them, maintain them, and ensure our customers get the experience they expect on every ride."
Vehicles in the fleet High they are all luxury midsize SUVs that feature leather interiors, plexiglass partitions, and in-vehicle WiFi. The goal is to transition to a full electric vehicle fleet starting early next year.
To ensure a smooth transition to electric vehicles, High is working on building electrical infrastructure charging centers for its future fleet in every city it currently operates in, plus Silicon Valley.
Passengers can only access the service of High through a membership of $12.95 per month or $99 per year, which, depending on Coleman, creates a higher bar for the acquisition, but which guarantees that High Acquire customers who are more profitable over time because they travel more often.
While the membership model can be successful in the long run, it's all about how you sell it. Multiple app reviews on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store show users customers who are unhappy receiving a request to enter their credit card details immediately after opening the appinstead of giving them time to play, review travel prices, or even determine if High serves the passenger area.
In fact, according to reviews, the app seems to have a number of issues that put users off. Over the past year, customers had issues with pre-booked rides not showing up, app freezing, unable to verify, difficult UI, no way to contact drivers...
