By: Eva Rizk
Eva is an up and coming ride-sharing app, based on blockchain, founded by two students from Quebec and is slowly making its way around the world. Much like popular ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft, users download the app, select their destination and wait for their driver to arrive. But there is a number of factors which differentiates Eva from its competitors.
The app’s co-founders, C.T.O., Raphael Gaudreault, and C.O.O., met each other in late 2017, in Regina, Saskatchewan while they were both taking English classes at the local university. Because Isufi and Gaudreault are, respectively, from Granby and Saguenay and kept in touch on Facebook and began developing their idea for the app. They later met up in Quebec City, and came up with the name Eva in the middle of the night. The name comes from the 2014 film, Ex Machina, in which the protagonist is named Ava. Though they confused one letter of the name, they stuck with it.
Though Eva might seem similar to Uber, the cooperative-based ride-sharing app differentiates itself from their competitor, in many ways.
During the development, Isufi says, in an interview over the phone, they “thought it was much easier than it is.” Isufi, 22, and Gaudreault, 23, had a challenge pitching their app to partners who are significantly older than them. Their young age did add a challenge to starting their company. When they were pitching their ideas to their current partners, “all the red flags were up and we didn’t want to make stupid mistakes” says Isufi. In the end, their perseverance As of now, Eva employs more than 400 drivers. Though Eva might seem similar to Uber, the cooperative-based ride-sharing app differentiates itself from their competitor, in many ways. Instead of the 15% Uber drivers receives from each ride, Eva gives its drivers 25% of the cut. Additionally, Uber often doubles or triples its rates depending on the time of day. Eva does not.
Looking at companies who have had problems with protecting their user’s information, like Facebook and Desjardins, Eva’s “technology is based on blockchain,” he explains. Isufi believes “technology can be a tool to protect ourselves.” Though the beta version of the app only launched in October 2018, and Isufi explains that they are still “improving the app,” thanks to the blockchain technology, there is no possibility for a data leak.
Isufi describes Eva as a “sustainable alternative to Uber.” They want to encourage people who use these types of services to “localize the economy.” Eva is currently accessible in many regions in Quebec as well as Alberta, Bangladesh and New Zealand. “The incentive is for communities to make their own system.” For example, in Bangladesh, Eva works with tuk tuk drivers, a service which is not offered everywhere in the world. As a cooperative, Eva’s drivers and riders get to take part in their annual meeting, and, according to their website “allows people to organize in a radically different manner with a decentralized autonomous organization.”
See Eva’s co-founder, Raphael Gaudreault give a talk at Dawson on September 30th. More details to come.