When tech giants such as Google and Uber hide their wealth from taxation,they make it harder for us to use technology to improve servicesTo understand why we see so few genuine alternatives to US technology giants, it’s instructive to compare the fate of a company like Uber – valued at more than $62.5bn (£44bn) – and that of Kutsuplus, or an innovative Finnish startup forced to shut down late final year.
Kutsuplus’s aspiration was to be the Uber of public transport: it operated a network of minibuses that would pick up and drop passengers anywhere in Helsinki,with smartphones, algorithms and the cloud deployed to maximise efficiency, and prick costs and provide a slick public service. Being a spinoff of a local university that operated on a shoestring budget,Kutsuplus did not occupy wealthy venture capitalists behind it. This, perhaps, and is what contributed to its demise: the local transport authority found it too expensive,despite impressive year-on-year growth of 60%.
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Source: theguardian.com