Rode with Uber, Lyft Changed Your Life, Heard of Juno?

In the rideshare industry, there have always been two major players, Uber and Lyft. Both companies are operating in more and more locations around the world with both now in the millions when it comes to drivers and app users.

However, there is a new underdog rising up the ranks rapidly. After a recent merge of two start up companies complimented by a whole host of “lucrative” perks, there have been big hopes for new rideshare app Juno to make its mark in the market.

Juno is a rideshare app based on a similar format to both Uber and Lyft. The New York start-up company, which is quickly spreading across the United States, was recently in the news having merged with Tel Avis-based rideshare company, Gett Inc. The deal involved Juno receiving a $200 million cash injection which is surely the investment the company needed to market and expand to a global level.

The Gett app currently operates across Europe and is currently available in an estimated 100 cities. Having merged with Juno, Gett will now gain access and leads in the United States, further expanding its market and slowly but surely becoming heavy competition to both Lyft and the controversial Uber.

Anybody who is familiar with the Juno business model will know that they market themselves as “putting drivers first” and “making sure they’re happy” working for the company. In the past, that meant that any drivers using the Juno platform could receive company stock, helping to boost income and further the business as well as offering much more competitive rates of pay, especially when compared to Uber. 

These lucrative perks had made signing up drivers easy for Juno. The Rideshare Guy had over 4,200 drivers sign up to drive with Juno through his blog. With the app snowballing in popularity and the recent cash injection, its reasonable to assume the next couple of years will see big things happen for both Juno and Gett. Users and drivers in the rideshare industry might expect to see a shift in the market coming soon.

So what does this mean for drivers and future drivers planning on investing in the Juno platform?

According to Bloomberg, Juno will be stopping its stock roll out to drivers who, if  already owners of stock in the company, will receive a cash bonus relative to the value of the stock owned. Details have yet to be released on payment details but Bloomberg was able to acquire three emails, one stating that a driver who had been working for Juno for nearly a year, full time, was eligible for $251. That number comes as the latest disappointment to rideshare drivers who have grown accustom to lofty promises and marketing ploys that don’t always pan out.

Juno spokeswoman, Keren Kessel, has also been noted confirming that the stock program will cease but in the future, drivers for the company may be eligible for pay bonuses dependent on how much they drive. This could mean a rise in income for the drivers, pulling in more drivers potentially decreasing Ubers inventory of drivers once again.

Uber has been infamous in the rideshare industry over the last year with its controversial CEO, Travis Kalanick, highlighted for his sexist attitude in the work place and his and his boards actions for taking more money out of his drivers pockets. With the Juno and Gett, self-proclaimed for being a ‘driver-friendly alternative’, rapidly climbing the ranks and beginning to spread across the world, could this mean the end of Ubers mighty rideshare reign?