In this blog eCabs Malta CEO Andrew Bezzina takes us through what spurred the company’s growth post-Covid.
The transportation industry, like many others, experienced unprecedented disruption during the global pandemic.
It was a time when roads lay empty, and the future appeared uncertain.
Yet, it is precisely during these breaks in time that businesses can find opportunities for growth and transformation.
At eCabs, we seized the moment to accelerate our investment in bridging technological gaps and doubled down on our strategy to take our first steps to internationalise our technology.
Don’t get me wrong. The complete wipe-out of the business was tough, very tough.
But in those difficult circumstances, we understood that survival meant more than simply weathering the storm – it meant adapting, evolving, and emerging stronger than before.
The result? Exceptional performance that massively surpassed that of 2019, our previous record-breaking year.
In fact, eCabs experienced a staggering 120% growth in ride volumes during the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2019.
This is a testament not only to our performance but also to the robustness of the ride-hailing sector in Malta, clearly mirroring the global trends in mobility.
A great resetting opportunity
Surviving difficult periods requires more than just resilience – it demands a relentless commitment to continuous improvement.
We saw a great resetting opportunity in the uncertain climate of the pandemic and decided to invest. Heavily, in technology.
At eCabs, we seized the moment to accelerate our investment in bridging technological gaps and doubled down on our strategy to take our first steps to internationalise our technology.
Andrew Bezzina, CEO eCabs Malta
Between 2020 and 2022, the company invested more than €7 million in rebuilding our ride-hailing platform from scratch.
We did this with the aim of becoming the first international ride-hailing platform owned by a Maltese company.
We leveraged our platform to open up to the partner driver model and today we sit confidently aside some of the world’s leading players in the ride-hailing market.
As we keep registering month-on-month growth, our focus is now to keep repeating what led us to this milestone: continuously enhancing our product and service offerings, ensuring fast, safe, and affordable rides for our valued customers.
We do this because we really believe that ride-hailing is part of the solution to the most pressing challenges in the transport and mobility sector.
The next chapter
This year marks a turning point for eCabs as we embark on our ambition of taking our platform to new territories.
We are excited to share our knowledge and insights. After all, this is what earned us such a robust market share and is propelling our growth in Malta.
We are now seeking to enable global taxi operations to undergo the transformation they need.
Through our expertise and tech, we are providing corporates a reliable avenue for investment in diversification, and governments the tools they need to improve their transportation future.
We know what this transition is like because we’ve already been through it ourselves.
This next step in the eCabs story would not be possible without the support of our partners, investors and exceptional tech team who, like us, believe that ride-hailing plays a key part in unlocking our urban spaces.
Looking back on the past few years I’ve learnt that the journey of eCabs is a reminder that success is not measured by the absence of challenges but by the ability to rise above them.
Adversity, it turns out, is not a roadblock – it’s a speed bump, an opportunity for growth, a chance to reinvent oneself, and a catalyst for meaningful change.
