Latest news with #Amigo
South China Morning Post
02-08-2025
- Automotive
- South China Morning Post
How easy is it to ride with Hong Kong's 5 premium taxi fleets? Only 1 passes test
Four out of the five new premium taxi fleets in Hong Kong have failed to accept ride requests within 30 minutes in the city centre, a test by the Post has found several days after the cabs hit the streets with full licences providing ride-hailing alternatives for commuters. The test, conducted on a weekday morning in Tsim Sha Tsui, involved five Post reporters placing orders using separate apps from the five operators: SynCab, Amigo, Big Bee, Big Boss Taxi and Joie. Only SynCab confirmed a ride after an 11-minute wait. The other four platforms either failed to respond or repeatedly cancelled orders during the 30-minute testing window. This contrasted sharply with a separate test to get a traditional taxi or Uber, both requiring less than one minute of wait time and offering cheaper fares than SynCab. With the long-awaited launch of four more taxi fleets on Monday after SynCab, transport minister Mable Chan recently reiterated the government's commitment to improve the sector while stressing that 'each new thing has a transitional period'. Premium taxis were seen by the government as part of the solution to address long-standing complaints about poor taxi service and limited electronic payment options. The new fleets are required by authorities to install in-vehicle cameras and accept e-payments. But the Post's test found that most fleets struggled to take instant ride orders and dispatch vehicles in a timely manner.
RTHK
27-06-2025
- Automotive
- RTHK
1,000 taxis to hit roads by end of July in fleets push
1,000 taxis to hit roads by end of July in fleets push All five taxi fleets will receive official licenses next month despite not meeting a target of putting 60 percent of their envisaged fleets on the road. Photo: RTHK Around 1,000 taxis will hit the road by the end of July as part of the government's push for a fleet system, Commissioner for Transport Angela Lee announced on Friday. She said five fleets – granted conditional licenses last year – have begun trial runs and provided more than 120,000 rides. The fleet operators are, Lee added, set to be issued official licenses. The government had, in the initial stages of the push, said the five fleets would operate a total of 3,500 taxis and that they would need to reach 60 percent of full operations to be granted an official license. One of the five operators, Amigo, said its fleet was only one tenth of that originally envisaged, while the others did not reveal the exact sizes of their fleets. Lee said this does not mean the licensing threshold has been lowered and that factors such as service quality and driver training needs have to be taken into account. She said driver recruitment has been difficult. 'We acknowledge that some of the drivers are currently not too familiar with this new concept of taxi fleets and they have been waiting to know more about the individual operation characteristics of the taxi fleets,' she said. The Labour Department, she added, had conducted many recruitment sessions to assist with the hiring of drivers and would continue to offer support. The fleet operators, she said, are in discussions with Octopus to join its "Easy Ride" service after the electronic payments system giant announced in early June that the service would enable people to book and pay for a ride on its app. However, no specific timeline has been announced for the start of the one-stop hailing service..
Axios
19-06-2025
- Business
- Axios
Exclusive: Payabli raises $28M to scale embedded payments
Payabli, a Miami-based embedded payments platform, has raised $28 million in Series B funding led by existing investors Fika Ventures and QED Investors, its founders tell Axios exclusively. Why it matters: Payments are becoming a core strategy for software vendors and SaaS platforms to unlock new revenue streams and deepen customer relationships. How it works: Payabli provides vertical software companies with an embedded platform that combines payment acceptance, payment issuance, and payment operations under a single API. This lets software vendors and vertical SaaS providers offer branded payment solutions without managing multiple third-party providers. "We remain laser-focused on our mission of making all software companies payment companies," co-founder William Corbera says. "And on unifying pay-in, pay-out and pay-ops through a single, unified API." What they're saying: "Vertical-SaaS platforms used to see payments purely as a cost center, but Payabli makes it so easy to embed and monetize that it's a no-brainer," Fika Ventures general partner TX Zhuo says. By the numbers: Payabli has grown nearly 8x since its Series A, processing billions annually and supporting over 50,000 merchants, Phillips says. He expects the company to support over 100,000 merchants by year's end. Between the lines: Insiders QED and Fika decided to double down on the company less than a year after it raised its Series A round. "We didn't need the money ... but our investors came to us. They see Payabli as a multiple-billion-dollar company and wanted to accelerate our growth," co-founder Joseph Elias Phillips says. Zhuo notes that the Series B round was the largest check Fika has written to date. "The team is building the go-to platform for software companies looking to embed payments, and we wanted to ensure they had capital to accelerate," QED partner Laura Bock said in an email. The latest: With the new funding, the company is betting big on AI, which it uses for risk management, fraud detection, customer support, and platform integration. It recently introduced an AI-powered support agent, Amigo, that is trained on extensive customer and platform data. "We've been investing heavily in AI — from Amigo on the support side to risk-and-fraud models across the platform — to keep the infrastructure reliable as we scale," Phillips says. Zoom in: The funding brings Payabli's total raised to $60 million, just nine months after its Series A.
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rock Star, 37, Suffers Heartbreaking Personal Loss: 'Devastated'
Rock Star, 37, Suffers Heartbreaking Personal Loss: 'Devastated' originally appeared on Parade. Amigo the Devil's house tragically burned down—and the rock star, whose real name is Danny Kiranos, took to social media to share photos of the aftermath. On Friday, June 13, the singer, 37, took to Instagram with a carousel of pictures of his home ablaze and the rubble afterward, along with a reflective message. 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 "Everything is gone," Amigo declared. "I have both too many and too few words right now," he continued. "I'm happy and grateful for all of our lives. I'm devastated for anyone who put love, effort and kindness into making this home what it was." In his update, the "Hell and You" singer noted that he lost original Amigo art, hand-written lyric books "filled with songs that'll never be," hard drives with demos and so much more. Amigo added, "I'm horrified for the irreplacable [sic] loss that Abbey is going through of her best friend, the best little dog that so many of you met this last tour, Kobe." After promising another update later, the rocker said his family is "trying to stay positive" and "hopeful." He concluded, "I'm trying to forget I ever wrote a song called it's all gone but at the same time the little jokes help here and there. This was genuinely a night without mercy." In the comments, Amigo's fans shared their reactions and condolences. One Instagram user wrote, "Oh my god, brother! 😢😭💔I love you and I'm so sorry!" Another shared, "Our hearts are with you 🖤🖤🖤." Someone else echoed, "So sorry to see this. My heart aches for you all. 😭." Meanwhile, yet another follower commented, "Absolutely devastating to see, I'm glad you guys are okay❤️." Next: Rock Star, 37, Suffers Heartbreaking Personal Loss: 'Devastated' first appeared on Parade on Jun 14, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 14, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Payabli secures $28m in Series B funding
Payabli, a payments infrastructure platform serving software firms, has raised $28m in its Series B financing round. This round was led by Fika Ventures and QED Investors, with additional contribution from current investors TTV Capital and Bling Capital. It comes nine months after the company's Series A, bringing the total capital raised to $60m. With the fresh infusion, Payabli plans to continue product development and expand its 3P offering, including Pay In, Pay Out, and Pay Ops capabilities. The company has launched an embedded Spend Management solution, offering branded expense programs with physical and virtual cards, giving platforms full API control and the ability to capture interchange revenue. The company states the recent funding will enable Payabli, headquartered in Florida, to grow its team further. Fika Ventures managing partner TX Zhuo said: 'We've believed in Payabli's vision since day one and have seen Jo and Will consistently exceed expectations as they build the future of embedded payments. Their ability to deliver a full stack, developer first platform that wins in complex, need-to-pay verticals is unmatched.' QED Investors Partner Laura Bock said: 'We initially backed Payabli because we believe deeply in Jo and Will's approach to embedded payments—and they've executed relentlessly. They've built the right platform at exactly the right time, as software platforms become the next major players in payments. With a full-stack offering, rapid product velocity, and strong traction in complex verticals, Payabli has emerged as a category leader. We're excited to double down and support their next phase of growth as they redefine modern payments infrastructure.' The Series B funding builds on Payabli's growth over the past year, highlighted by a sevenfold increase in revenue and the activation of multiple billions in live processing volume, the company release stated. The platform now has over 50,000 merchants and has introduced embedded payments for enterprises in essential payment verticals, alongside multiple new integrations and partnerships. The company aims to enhance its product development with the new funding, focusing on AI-powered features to provide customised customer experiences. Payabli is harnessing the power of AI to streamline operations and enhance customer experiences. The company's first AI-driven support agent, Amigo, is stated to assist software companies with integration, support, and analytics through a chat-based interface. Payabli is also building 'advanced' risk and fraud detection models, leveraging NVIDIA's AI infrastructure to provide tailored risk assessments. "Payabli secures $28m in Series B funding" was originally created and published by Electronic Payments International, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Sign in to access your portfolio
