Deem Announces Acquisition of Whisk

Deem Founder and CEO Patrick Grady San Francisco — Industry technology provider Deem announced today that it has acquired ride-sharing company Whisk, which developed Ridgeback, a back-office solution for ground transportation operators. Deem now offers complete, end-to-end technology solutions for chauffeured and professional car service operators, from Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) back-office software to mobile reservations and ride closeout.

The acquisition will help strengthen Deem’s suite of operator applications, a now complete technology solution for operators including back-office capabilities, mobile and online reservations, and ride dispatch—in both advance and real time—as well as access to one of the largest network of professional, fully-licensed fleets and drivers in the world. According to Deem Founder and CEO Patrick Grady, is “is evidence of our commitment to helping this industry evolve sooner rather than later.”

“I met with NLA President Gary Buffo back in February of last year, and he openly challenged the company’s commitment to this industry,” Grady said. “He was concerned about the industry being technologically disadvantaged, relying on software technologies that are often 15 or 20 years old, which is a significant competitive disadvantage in terms of operating your business efficiently in general. It is a much more acute issue in light of the advantages that companies like Uber, Lyft, and others now possess.”

Whisk’s capabilities were designed to provide the ground transportation industry with the technology and tools to modernize the services they were providing in order to remain competitive in today’s transportation economy. Operators using Whisk have not only reduced costs, but they have significantly increased operational efficiency, loyalty from their drivers, and overall customer satisfaction with its simple and intuitive experiences. Their integration will advance the features and capabilities of the applications in the Deem suite, rapidly accelerating Deem’s roadmap.

“Deem is a recognized pioneer in SaaS technology and our bar for SaaS platforms and applications is extremely high. When we met the team at Whisk we had an instant mind-meld on the industry’s needs and were struck by Whisk’s depth and quality. Their core CalTech-educated developers are among the best we’ve worked with,” said Grady. “Whisk’s one-of-a-kind, SaaS back-office will augment and accelerate our suite, making it more powerful for both chauffeured and black car operators, and Whisk’s mobile technologies will help Deem deliver next generation applications that will delight passengers and increase driver loyalty. We are thrilled to welcome the Whisk team to the Deem family.”

Both Grady and Whisk co-founder Ram Trichur agree that chauffeured transportation is a final frontier of sorts in terms of industries that can be aided from an overhaul of its technological landscape.

“The ground transportation market is the last industry we have found that hasn’t benefited from the global shift from software to SaaS. The power of SaaS technology is overwhelmingly clear—rapid deployment, reduced IT and business process costs, access to continuous innovation, business process agility and more. It is essential that we get our customers on a modern platform,” Grady said.

“The original mission of Whisk was to offer innovative services for ground transportation operators and riders while upholding the letter and spirit of public safety regulations,” added Trichur. “Deem’s relationships with hundreds of leading chauffeured operators, commitment to delivering duty-of-care, and proven track record of working with industry partners and operators alike to build the best technology solutions for every party involved mirrored our own and made it an easy conversation when we sat down with Patrick and his team.”

Visit deem.com for more information about the Car Service for Operators Suite.

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