It has been more than a year since Tapsi entered the capital market, but what has happened to Tapsi during this year and its entry into the capital market and stock exchange? Mohammad Mehdi Sadegh, a member of Tapsi’s board of directors, was a guest on this program to discuss Tapsi’s one-year experience in the capital market with Meysam Soltani, the editor-in-chief of digital media.
According to IDEA, in this program, questions were asked about Tapsi’s controversial issues with its competitor, Snapp, and topics such as the two rivals’ claims regarding the market share of internet-based taxis and Tapsi’s complaint against Snapp at the Competition Council were discussed.
Sadegh, a member of Tapsi‘s board of directors, also talked about the entry of artificial intelligence into Tapsi’s business and how this technology has been used from the beginning of Tapsi’s operations until today. Finally, he provided an approximate prediction of Tapsi’s market share in the future.
In the beginning of the program, the topic of Tapsi’s entry into the stock market, which has been more than a year, was discussed. Soleymani then asked Sadegh to talk about what Tapsi has gone through in this past year, including the challenges and successes.
Sadegh responded, “The initial challenge for us when entering the stock market was greater, but it became less challenging after our entry. Every listed company has certain requirements that must be met, and since we had thoroughly researched the matter from the past, we didn’t face many difficulties.
On the other hand, when you make promises to the stock market, you must adhere to them. Tapsi has always been investor-friendly, so we did not encounter significant issues in that regard. In the past year, we were able to fulfill all the promises we made, and in some cases, we even performed better.”
Soleymani then asked about the reported income in July, which was 91 billion tomans, and how this compared to Tapsi’s position a year ago when they were just entering the stock market with an income of 51 billion tomans. He asked, “What do you think Tapsi’s income would have been if you hadn’t entered the stock market?”
Sadegh replied, “Our entry into the stock market coincided with raising capital. At that time, we were able to expand into 16 new cities with the capital we raised. This allowed us to improve our marketing efforts in the cities where we were already present. If we hadn’t entered the stock market and raised capital simultaneously, Tapsi’s growth would have been half of what it is today. The most important factor for us was capital injection. In fact, attracting capital facilitated our growth in the stock market. All startup companies and businesses need capital.”
Regarding the pause in Tapsi’s multi-year capital acquisition, Soleymani inquired whether Tapsi could have achieved its current growth without entering the stock market and whether Tapsi still needed to go public.
Sadegh responded, “Tapsi’s entry into the stock market opened a new chapter that will have a significant impact on Tapsi in the medium and long term. I believe that attracting capital has an even greater impact and brings hope and motivation to the entire ecosystem. After all, there needs to be a desire and motivation for capital to enter, and the exit of capital is equally important. Tapsi’s entry into the stock market has made the ecosystem more attractive to investors.”
Regarding Tapsi’s entry into the stock market and whether it led to Tapsi distancing itself from the startup ecosystem, Soleymani asked for clarification.
Sadegh explained, “Yes, it did change our path, and it may lead to a change in the size of our ticket.”
The discussion then shifted to the expectation that Tapsi’s entry into the stock market would encourage other businesses to follow suit. However, in reality, this did not happen.
Sadegh provided insight, “This situation wasn’t entirely unexpected for me because Tapsi had been in the process of entering the stock market for about two and a half to three years. It’s true that Tapsi’s entry into the stock market probably makes the path easier for others, but it won’t be a case where, for example, a three-year journey like ours turns into just six months for other startups. Additionally, Tapsi had anticipated this situation from the beginning and was prepared for it.
It’s possible that other startups may need more time to enter the stock market due to a lack of the necessary readiness. That’s why I don’t think Tapsi’s one-year journey to the stock market is overly long for other startups, and I predict that other startups will also join the stock market soon.
In the continuation of the discussion, Soleymani asked about Tapsi’s income sources, especially considering that Tapsi earned about 87 billion tomans in the past month from ambassador commissions. He asked if Tapsi had considered other revenue streams given the current circumstances.
Sadegh responded, “When we talk about the core of our business, naturally, our primary income comes from ambassador commissions, and diversifying our services allows us to generate various commission revenues. However, if we consider Tapsi as a super-app or an ecosystem that includes various businesses, by the end of the fiscal year, Tapsi’s income will certainly come from other sources apart from ambassador commissions. For example, our Tapsi-Pack business, which recently launched and has a completely different service and commission structure.”
Regarding Tapsi’s decision to create a super-app and compete in this space with Snapp, Soleymani asked if Tapsi sees Snapp as its main competitor in the super-app arena.
Sadegh explained, “We will create a super-application, but in the sector where we plan to establish the super-app, Snapp will probably not be our main competitor. We have competed with Snapp in ride-hailing and will continue to do so, and there’s a possibility of competition in other areas as well. However, in our future path, we will be present in segments where Snapp might not necessarily be our competitor. For example, the Tapsi-Pack service is a segment where Snapp has not entered.”
Soleymani inquired further, asking Sadegh to elaborate on the path of this super-app.
Sadegh described, “If I were to outline the path of this super-app a bit, I’d say we have a set of logistics services that the super-app will have, ultimately creating a form of transportation within it. In the end, there will also be a range of financial services that we will provide. We intend to enter the fintech space, meaning we will offer a prize-based credit on people’s wallets, which will eventually lead to providing investment services to individuals.”
When Soleymani asked about the meaning of the wallet prize, whether it’s a form of profit, Sadegh clarified, “It’s credit that can be used within Tapsi. It can be interpreted as profit, but it’s not cash that resides in banking networks and is usable. However, in the future, we might head in that direction as well.”
Regarding Tapsi’s complaints against its competitor, Snapp, in the Competition Council, Sadegh stated, “Currently, we have one main complaint, and we are not pursuing any other complaints of this scale through legal channels.”
He then addressed the competitive market share claims, saying, “Unfortunately, there isn’t an appropriate method to measure market share because in the ride-hailing sector, we don’t have a regulator like Shaparak in the payment sector to measure market share. Naturally, we present our specific methods for measuring market share, and based on the method we use, our market share is 20 percent.”
Regarding the role of inflation in Tapsi’s increased income, Sadegh emphasized transparency, saying, “What we focus on more is transparency. Tapsi’s data is transparent and interpretable. Therefore, I can emphasize that a significant portion of the increased market share is due to an increase in the volume of operations, with a small portion attributed to inflation.”
Lastly, when asked about the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in Tapsi, Sadegh discussed the integration of AI into the platform. He mentioned that while AI has been part of Tapsi’s business from the beginning, they have recently added the “Ask Me” feature to showcase their AI capabilities. He explained that AI is playing an increasingly prominent role in Tapsi and will continue to do so as they expand into a super-app.
In conclusion, when asked for a market share prediction for Tapsi in the future, Sadegh stated, “Our target-setting is naturally based on our absolute targets. These targets are clear, and we have announced that we predict Tapsi’s sales will almost double in the future. This means an increase from 620 billion tomans to nearly 1,200 billion tomans. Predicting the exact market share is challenging because we don’t know the actions of our competitors, but even if our revenue increases by 150 percent and the market share remains the same, it’s an impossible scenario. Ultimately, I believe we will face a market share increase of 20 to 30 percent compared to now.”
No Comment! Be the first one.