Seed round · West Coast rideshare
Drivers keep more of every fare.
tab is a West Coast rideshare platform where drivers choose a flat-rate plan and a platform fee of 7% to 35%, with 10% on standard rides for our top tier, against the 25–30% typical of incumbents. We think the platform that pays drivers best ends up with the most reliable service, and we're raising a seed round to prove it, starting in San Francisco.
Where a fare goes
Pick a fare and a driver plan. The bars show what the driver takes home on tab and on a typical incumbent. Fees shown are for standard rides; premium rides carry lower rates on Pro and Elite.
Before tips, tolls and pass-through fees; drivers keep 100% of tips. Plans also carry a flat monthly fee, announced at launch. Incumbent take rates vary by market and trip; 25–30% is the range we model against.
Why a lower fee wins
Rideshare is a supply business. Riders stay with whichever app gets a car to them fastest, and that depends on drivers choosing to be online.
Better pay keeps drivers on tab
Most drivers run more than one app. When tab pays meaningfully more per trip, it becomes the one they open first and stay on longest.
More drivers mean shorter waits
Denser supply cuts pickup times and cancellations, which is what riders actually notice and what brings them back.
Incumbents can't follow cheaply
Matching a 7–15% fee would cost a 25–30% platform a large share of its revenue in every market it runs. tab is built for low fees and flat-rate plans from day one.
The West Coast route
- San Francisco Launchprove the economics in one city
- Los Angeleslargest California market
- San Diegosouthern California
- Sacramentocompletes California
- PortlandPacific Northwest entry
- SeattlePacific Northwest
One city first, then the coast
We launch in San Francisco and expand only once the per-ride economics hold there. Each new market reuses the operating playbook, and the driver network, of the one before it.
Staying on the West Coast keeps the first four launches under one state regulator before we cross into Oregon and Washington.
Where we are
Product and regulatory work run in parallel, because permits and insurance take longer than code.
Product Built
- Rider and driver apps on one shared codebase for iOS and Android
- Upfront-fare engine and driver earnings modeling, tuned for six West Coast cities
- Five-year financial model and city-by-city expansion plan
Launch readiness In progress
- California TNC permit from the CPUC
- Commercial auto insurance program
- Driver background-check provider
Who's building it
A career spent running sales and customer experience teams, the people closest to whether a service actually works for customers.
tab is built on that view: in rideshare, the customer experience is the driver experience.
| Where | What |
|---|---|
| Tesla | Sales and customer experience |
| AT&T | Sales and customer experience |
| Barneys New York | Customer experience |
| Housing Works | Leadership |
| Yale University | B.A., Economics |
The raise
We're raising our seed round.
If you invest in marketplaces, mobility or the future of work, we'd like to walk you through the model and the plan. Email Tom directly and he'll send the deck.