US-based ridesharing startups Gett and Juno announced Wednesday they were joining forces, helping them step up a challenge to larger rivals Uber and Lyft.
"Excited to share that #Gett & @juno join forces in the US bringing together two companies that treat drivers better," said a tweet from New York-based Gett, which operates in 100 cities in the US, Russia, Britain and Israel.
The companies did not immediately disclose terms, but the news site TechCrunch reported that Gett had paid $200 million for Juno, which launched in New York last year.
Gett has raised some $640 million including a $300 million investment last year from Volkswagen as part of a strategic partnership with the German automaker.
The two startups promote themselves as being more friendly to drivers than market leader Uber, which has been rocked by a series of embarrassing disclosures about a culture of sexism, cut-throat workplace tactics and covert use of law enforcement-evading software.
Gett operates in a large number of cities in Russia and a handful in the British and Israeli markets, but New York is the only US city in which it operates.
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