A joint venture between BMW and Mercedes-Benz, FreeNow operates across Europe.
Newly-filed accounts for the Irish arm of the business show that it saw its revenue rise 20pc last year to €46.1m.
In Ireland, FreeNow charges taxi drivers using its system 15pc of the fare amount, which includes the Vat the company pays. The commission doesn’t apply to tips, tolls and airport parking fees.
For fares derived from passengers that are picked up on the street and have not booked using the app but pay via a ‘Hop-on’ app, FreeNow takes 2pc of the fare.
The accounts also confirm that FreeNow has engaged in a trial with an electric scooter provider in Dublin. That partnership was inked in 2022 with e-scooter firm Tier for booking apps in towns across north Dublin.
In May this year, FreeNow announced that it had teamed up with Moby, an Irish bike sharing provider that has a fleet of bicycles in cities and towns including Dublin, Athlone, Mullingar and Tullamore.
“The directors expect the company to stay in a profit position while still investing in the current business models to increase their activity in Ireland,” note the FreeNow accounts. The new general manager for the Irish division is Danny O’Gorman.
The directors added that during 2023, the company concentrated on restricting its internal cost structure and refining the expense-allocation mechanism for app usage within the FreeNow group.
After paying the €7m dividend last year, the company was left with retained earnings of just under €1.37m.
As of last year, the company employed 31 people in Ireland, paying €2.3m in wages and salaries.
FreeNow chief executive Thomas Zimmermann said this week at a conference in Munich that the taxi app company has now reached breakeven, 13 years after it was launched.
“With a clear focus on the cab business, we have reached break-even,” he said.
“Achieving break-even is a first substantial step and proves the efficacy of our taxi-first strategy,” he added this week “We are dedicated to our vision, prioritising growth and sustained profitability in Europe.”
In Germany, which is one of FreeNow’s biggest markets, the company has seen strong growth in demand for taxis, especially after introducing fixed-price fares in Berlin and Munich.