Solana-Based Ridesharing App Teleport Shuts Down Amid Market Challenges

According to Cointelegraph, the Solana-based ridesharing app Teleport, which sought to rival industry giants Uber and Lyft, has announced its closure due to insufficient market readiness for decentralized ridesharing. In a statement released on its website and a January 30 post on X, Teleport expressed regret over the outcome, stating, "This is not the outcome we had hoped for. We’re sorry we didn’t find a way to make this business work!" Teleport engineer "Chase" shared on X that the rideshare market is not yet prepared for a decentralized protocol, describing the decision to close the app as "difficult but necessary." Founder Paul Bohm reflected on the challenges faced by the startup, which raised $9 million in October 2022 and launched publicly in June, calling it "the hardest thing I’ve ever tried doing." The company plans to provide a more detailed analysis of the factors leading to its closure in the future. In the meantime, Teleport will focus on winding down operations and assisting users in off-ramping their USD Coin (USDC) balances and private keys until February 28. Teleport attempted to set itself apart from Uber by taking a 15% commission on each ride, compared to Uber’s 25% to 30%, and offering drivers the option to accept payments in USDC or fiat through Apple Pay. The company claimed its rides were consistently cheaper than Uber’s, having completed 1,321 rides between its launch on June 1 and November 24, with 13,834 users registered. During the week of November 11 to 17, 178 drivers were active, marking a significant increase from the previous week. New York City and Austin, Texas, were among the most popular locations for Teleport’s services before its closure. However, reviews on the Apple app store revealed some dissatisfaction, with users complaining about the unavailability of drivers. Teleport served as the mobile client for the TRIP Rideshare Protocol, owned by the Decentralized Engineering Corporation. The concept of decentralized ridesharing apps has been in pursuit of challenging Uber since at least September 2016, when Arcade City launched but failed to gain traction. Despite these efforts, the market has yet to fully embrace decentralized ridesharing solutions.