French ride-hailing startup, Heetch, has suspended its operations in Cameroon. The company which started operations in the West African country in September last year, blames the coronavirus in France for the suspension of services in the country.
According to the company in a statement: “French company Heetch started operations in Cameroon last September. Directly affected by the Coronavirus crisis on French soil, Heetch decided to suspend its operations in Cameroon, the latest country where it launched its operations, to refocus its activities on other countries. This is why we must, as of today, suspend the application in the city of Douala. The Heetch team would like to thank all passengers and we deeply regret not being able to continue our investments in Cameroon,”
Heetch was started in 2013 in Paris by Teddy Pellerin and Jacob Matthieu to fill what it saw as a clear gap in the market in Paris. The company launched with a sharing economy mindset and set out to solve the urban transportation needs of the younger generations. Heetch pivoted successfully to a professional driver model at the beginning of 2017, with the ambition of breaking the mold of uniformity and commodity of the ride-sharing sector.
As at November 2019, Heetch had raised $42 million Series B funds to expand globally and establish itself in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Algeria, and Senegal, and develop its activities in Belgium.
However barely 3 months after launch in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, it suspended operations.
The ride-hailing service is still available in France, Belgium, Morocco and the Ivory Coast.
