Ride-Sharing Platform Juno Struggles to Make A Profit

The ride-hailing industry is heating up all over the world, and New York is no exception. A new platform was announced called Juno, which takes an entirely different approach to this concept. Not only will it benefit passengers, but they primarily focus on drivers. After all, these people deserve a partner, a good listener, and preferably, another source of revenue.

Juno Does Ride-Sharing Differently

Although the Juno service has not officially launched yet, the company is already making some waves in the ride-sharing industry. For the time being, this company is still running its business in the beta phase. But that doesn’t mean they have not been a success, as over 9,000 drivers have signed up for the service already.

Juno drivers are aggressively trying to persuade Uber and Lyft drivers to join the company. This has not gone by unnoticed by either company, albeit there is nothing wrong with a bit of friendly competition. Juno only takes 10 percent commission, compared to over 25% taken by Uber and Lyft. This alone can make a huge difference in the paycheck for drivers.

But the passenger will benefit from this competition as well. Fares will become cheaper, which can save a few dollars on every ride. For frequent users of ride-sharing applications, this can total to a lot of money over the span of a month or even a full year. Moreover, it seems as if Juno is actively engaging with their drivers, something that both Uber and Lyft do less frequently.

It is adamant for everyone to see Juno is on an aggressive campaign, which may not be sustainable in the long run. New drivers receive US$15 the first time any of their referred people takes a ride through the app. Early adopters of this app were also paid US$50 per week to active list their services on the platform, before the company starting seeing more interest.

All of these incentives are a great way to attract new drivers, but revenue has to start coming in as well. The company plans to issue shares to all of its drivers as well, paying them out dividends on a quarterly basis. But it seems passengers have not taken to the platform just yet. For now, the company is bleeding money. Even drivers would charge  a50$ fare per ride; Juno would only make 5$ from that amount. Not the best outlook for a startup company, and it will be interesting to see if they can turn the ship around.

Source; Recode

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