About the company
Bit Pro (ex. Taxi Bit) was founded in 2015 in Michoacán, Mexico. It started as a traditional taxi company and became a ride-hailing service with 100% of orders coming from the Customer app.
After switching to the Onde platform, building partnerships, securing investors, and undergoing strategic scaling, Bit Pro became the fastest-growing ride-hailing platform in Central America.
The challenge of automating the taxi business
Bit Pro began as a traditional taxi company: orders were managed through phone calls, WhatsApp messages, and manual dispatch coordination. This process proved inefficient as soon as the company started growing, so automation became the necessary goal.
At first, Bit Pro chose to outsource app development to a software development company. After spending almost 10 months on development, the apps they got were buggy and unreliable, and Bit Pro had to look for another option. That’s when they found Onde.
After switching to Onde, Bit Pro quickly achieved user satisfaction and driver loyalty and became the only serious competitor to Uber in Michoacán, Mexico.
Over the next three years, Bit Pro has shown steady year-over-year growth, with the number of orders and passengers doubling or tripling annually. It took four years of dedication to achieve the milestone of 30,000 orders per month, marking the journey to real success.
Scaling to Costa Rica
Now that the company had excellent service and user experience, it was time for Pro Bit to scale and build partnerships. In 2021, a group of drivers formed a drivers association in Costa Rica, of which the founder of Bit Pro was also the president for three years in a row.
After finding investors, the company has expanded to Limón in Costa Rica and has become Uber’s main competitor in the region once again, growing twice in half a year.
Additionally, Bit Pro began to establish strategic commercial alliances with many businesses and the Chamber of Commerce in the Caribbean region.
Building an international brand
Bit Pro continues to expand internationally. The company recently entered Guatemala, achieving even faster growth thanks to the experience gained along the way. Rather than entering the capital city, they chose to start in areas we could better control, such as Quetzaltenango (Xela), invest economically, and take a highly strategic approach to marketing.
A similar strategy was applied in Panama. After conducting in-depth research, they decided to launch in the David, Chiriquí region.
Bit Pro continues to seek opportunities across various markets, strategizing and growing along the way. They prioritize relationships with drivers, starting from small cities, and investing heavily in marketing.
Local-first strategy and services
One of Bit Pro’s core growth strategies has been adapting the platform to the specific needs of each city. The company focused on building local trust, maintaining close relationships with drivers, and making users feel the app belonged to their community.
This local-first strategy also shaped Bit Pro’s service offering. In different regions, the company introduced ride categories based on local demand, including women-for-women rides, premium services, and even local transportation formats such as tuk-tuks in beach destinations.
Key points of success
- Switching from outsourced development to Onde’s scalable white-label platform
- Building a strong local identity in every market
- Prioritizing driver profitability and loyalty
- Starting with smaller, less saturated cities
- Adapting services to local transportation needs
- Combining digital marketing with direct community activation and partnerships
