Obi
Formerly | Bellhop (2014–2021) |
|---|---|
| ISIN | 🆔 |
| Industry | Mobility; Technology |
| Fate | Rebranded as Obi in March 2021 |
| Predecessor | Bellhop Technologies Inc. |
| Founded 📆 | 2014 |
| Founder 👔 | Payam Safa |
| Headquarters 🏙️ | , , |
Area served 🗺️ | Worldwide |
Key people | Ashwini Anburajan (CEO) Payam Safa (Chairman & President) |
| Products 📟 | Obi mobility metasearch platform Intelligent Pricing API |
| Members | |
Number of employees | |
| 🌐 Website | https://rideobi.com |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
Obi is an American multinational mobility metasearch platform that aggregates real-time pricing, wait times, and service availability from multiple ridesharing companies, taxi networks, and black-car services. The service, available on iOS and Android, enables users to compare transportation providers within a single interface. The platform was originally launched as Bellhop in 2014 and rebranded as Obi in 2021.[1][2]
History
Obi began in 2014 as Bellhop Technologies Inc., a startup founded by Payam Safa. Early versions of the Bellhop app functioned as a digital concierge tool before narrowing its focus to fare comparison in different ride-hailing services as dynamic pricing widely adopted. Bellhop released its transportation aggregator publicly in major U.S. cities and later expanded to international markets, integrating with both ride-hail APIs and legacy taxi dispatch systems. In March 2021, the company announced its rebrand to Obi as part of its global expansion strategy and growth in provider integrations.[3][4]
In August 2025, Obi appointed Ashwini Anburajan as Chief Executive Officer. Payam Safa, the founder became Chairman and President.[5]
Platform, Technology and Business Model
Obi’s mobile application compares real-time prices, estimated pickup times, vehicle categories, and service availability from participating providers. Some partners, such as Curb, allow riders to complete bookings directly through Obi, while others including Uber and Lyft redirect users to the provider’s app.[2]
The platform also offers an Intelligent Pricing API, which supplies aggregated historical and real-time mobility data to publishers, researchers, and mobility analysts[6]. Its system processes API feeds from ride-hailing companies, taxi dispatch services, and emerging autonomous-vehicle fleets.[1]
Obi functions as a fare-comparison tool that aggregates pricing information from major ride-hailing companies, local operators, and emerging autonomous-vehicle services.[2] It generates revenue primarily through commissions paid by partner transportation providers for bookings initiated via the platform, typically up to about 10 percent per ride. Additional revenue streams include enterprise API licensing, data analytics services, advertising, and partnerships with travel and mobility platforms.[6]
Research and Market Analyses
In 2024, Obi released the Global Rideshare Report, which examined pricing, competition, post-pandemic travel patterns, and driver earnings in major cities. According to the report, London was one of the more stable ride-hailing markets, with closely aligned fares between companies such as Uber, Bolt, Addison Lee, and FREENOW. It noted that in some airport transfers, several providers had identical pricing, which it presented as an indicator of strong competition. The report contrasted this finding with what it described as higher volatility in cities such as Paris, Los Angeles, and New York.[7]
Waymo Pricing Research (2025)
In 2025, Obi published an analysis of Waymo robotaxi fares based on nearly 90,000 price quotes in San Francisco.[8] According to the analysis, Waymo trips were typically more expensive than comparable UberX or Lyft Standard rides.[9][10] TechCrunch and Sherwood News described it as one of the first large-scale datasets comparing autonomous-vehicle pricing to human-driven ride-hail services.[11][12]
Reception
MapHappy described the service as “easy to use”. Other reviewers mentioned occasional differences between estimated and final fares.[13] TechCrunch covered Obi’s role as a mobility-data provider, reporting on an Obi analysis of nearly 90,000 San Francisco ride-hail price quotes.[14]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hempel, Jessi. "Uber and Lyft's Never-Ending Quest to Crush Price Comparison Apps". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Walker, Alissa (2021-06-04). "Why Your Uber Ride Is Suddenly Costing a Fortune". Curbed.
- ↑ Im, Jimmy (2018-08-16). "3 innovative new travel apps that save time and money". CNBC.
- ↑ Campbell, Harry (2019-01-01). "RSG085: Payam Safa Talks About Bellhop & How It Works!". The Rideshare Guy.
- ↑ "Ashwini Anburajan". bizjournals.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Dennis, Ben (2024-02-26). "Free app automatically tracks rideshare prices, wait times: how it works". Yahoo News.
- ↑ Richardson, Perry (2024-08-16). "RIVAL APPS: Uber competition keeps London's ridehail market prices stable". TaxiPoint Taxi News.
- ↑ Molla, Rani (2025-06-12). "As the race for autonomy heats up, data shows Google's Waymo costs more than Uber and Lyft". Sherwood News.
- ↑ X. Chen, Brian. "Self-Driving Taxis Are Catching On. Are You Ready?". nytimes.com.
- ↑ O’Brient, Samuel. "Tesla rival gets good news as robotaxi launch looms - TheStreet". TheStreet. Archived from the original on 2025-06-19.
- ↑ Shahan, Zachary (2025-06-13). "A Waymo Costs More, But People Love It". CleanTechnica.
- ↑ Lee, Lloyd (2025-06-15). "A study shows Waymo is more expensive than Uber and Lyft, but some people are willing to eat the extra costs". Business Insider Africa.
- ↑ Ho, Erica (2019-08-22). "Bellhop Finds the Cheapest Rideshare App for Getting Across Town - Map Happy". Map Happy - Get there.
- ↑ O'Kane, Sean (2025-06-12). "Exclusive: Waymo rides cost more than Uber, Lyft — and people are paying anyway". TechCrunch.
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