← Embedded Finance Index 2026

FREENOW

“Can a European mobility super app unify ride-hailing, micro-mobility, and embedded financial services across nine fragmented national markets under a single platform?”

Founded2009
HQHamburg, Germany (with UK operations at Harling House, Great Suffolk Street, London SE1 0BS)
Latest roundAcquired by Lyft (from BMW/Daimler joint venture)
IndustryMarketplace / Mobility
The story

Originally launched in 2009 as mytaxi, one of Europe's first smartphone-based taxi dispatch apps. Evolved through a BMW/Daimler merger into FREE NOW, a broader 'mobility super app' covering taxis, e-scooters, e-bikes, carsharing, and public transit in 9 European markets. Acquired by Lyft in 2025 and rebranded Freenow by Lyft, with Checkout.com brought in as the primary payments infrastructure partner to unify acquiring across all European markets. The company also embeds B2B driver/partner financing through finmid, extending its platform beyond ride-hailing into financial services for driver partners.

Last 12 months
2025-01
2025-01
Product timeline
2009
Founded as mytaxi (originally 1TouchTaxi), one of the first taxi-hailing apps in Europe.· pivot
2019
Rebranded from mytaxi to FREE NOW following the merger of BMW's MyTaxi and Daimler's Hailo into a joint mobility venture.· pivot
2025
Acquired by Lyft, rebranded as Freenow by Lyft; now operating in 9 European markets across 180+ cities.· acquisition
2025
Announced partnership with Checkout.com to power digital payments across all nine European markets.· banking
The stack
3 layers disclosed in FREENOW’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
Checkout.com
Money movement
in the full report
Lending
in the full report
Accounting gap: minor
3 more providers across 2 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.