HOP And HERTZ Facilitate Ride Sharing In Australia

Technology and transport are coming together to bring you HOP, Australia’s latest facilitator for ride-sharing. The founder of HOP, Zeryab Cheema, started the business to increase accessibility to autonomous transportation. By tapping into the sharing economy, HOP offers a more energy-efficient solution to private transport and gives users the perks of owning a vehicle without the cost. To make this solution accessible Australia-wide, Devika jumped on board as the technical support and advisory and built their custom mobile application and new website. Released earlier this year, HOP is now available on the App Store and Google Play.

Alongside Zeryab, Devika built the application, complete with a fully integrated booking system, login platform, payment portal, and other custom features with the Devika Baseline product. To make it easy for customers to navigate and manage their personal account on the app, we implemented a simple four-step booking system. Zeryab shares how technology is enhancing the experience and scalability of his product.

“Technology has played an essential role within the HOP platform, allowing users to rent a car from start to finish in less than 30 seconds. The automation of data and simplification of the user journey creates a scalable model which can be white-labeled and licensed beyond the ride-share sector,” Zeryab says.

In addition to ensuring the functionality of the app, Devika worked alongside Zeryab to develop and refine a clear go-to-market strategy. This included intensive testing and research to understand the behaviors and needs of the defined customer base. HOP is also part of the Devika Ventures program.

“Devika’s collaboration with HOP developed a technologically advanced framework with deep business-case knowledge. HOP’s relationship with Devika was focused on building a platform for an addressable market and commercializing key areas instead of milestone-driven software development.

“Knowing HOP has a strong technology team such as Devika, we are able to carry out more extensive R&D into emerging areas such as electric and autonomous vehicles. This will allow the model to be refined and strategic partnerships to be formed to scale to a global transport platform.”

Zeryab’s investment in this initiative stems from his extensive experience in the transport industry and business world.

“HOP was created based on prior experience in the transportation sector, with the successful exit of Taxi 24/7 in the UK. The thought process was to develop a platform which could offer a competitive and unique rental experience targeted at the ride-share sector. This would be based on the usage of under-utilized assets as opposed to purchasing a fleet of cars in every city.”

In response to the current challenges and restrictions of COVID, Zeryab continues to adapt and refine ideas to improve the customer experience in the future.

“HOP has developed a dynamic rental model which creates a seamless experience from reserving a car to picking it up from the nearest depot. This unique customer journey can be extended to include more experimental models, such as electric vehicles and self-driving cars.”

Take a look at this exciting world of more efficient, cleaner, and smarter ways to travel with HOP.