--- title: "Austin Tech Scene Rallies Behind Nonprofit Uber Alternative" id: "33453" type: "post" slug: "austin-tech-scene-rallies-behind-nonprofit-uber-alternative" published_at: "2016-05-25T16:30:28+00:00" modified_at: "2026-03-16T16:36:48+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2016/05/25/austin-tech-scene-rallies-behind-nonprofit-uber-alternative/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2016/05/25/austin-tech-scene-rallies-behind-nonprofit-uber-alternative.md" excerpt: "The departure of the major ride-sharing startups, still smarting over a failure at the ballot box, has left a hole in the Texas capital for people looking for a cheap ride. One of the firms hoping to fill it in..." taxonomy_category: - "Advocacy" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "Business" - "community data" - "nonprofit" - "ride-sharing" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "C-Level" - "Executive Team" taxonomy_persona: - "Industry Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Austin Tech Scene Rallies Behind Nonprofit Uber Alternative The failure of a ballot measure backed by Uber and Lyft led the two companies to leave the market in Austin, Texas. Now the nonprofit sector is looking to fill the void left behind. [RideAustin (opens in a new tab)](http://www.rideaustin.com/) , a new startup that describes itself as “proudly nonprofit” on its website, aims to offer a service similar to what the leading ride-sharing companies had offered, though it will follow the city’s impending legal requirements, which include fingerprint background checks. > If Austin wants ride-hailing, and wants it quickly, you have to have the whole community behind it. And a nonprofit is the best way to do that. Designed in a two-week sprint, the app came about as part of a community effort by the city’s technology community, with various companies and community groups donating $4 million in cash and services to power the app. RideAustin has pledged to provide an inexpensive service to riders while paying drivers better (they’ll get 80 percent of all fare revenues raised) and even helping out local charities while making it easy for passengers to round up their fares for small donations. Joshua Baer, CEO of the local accelerator Capital Factory and a supporter of the failed Prop 1 bill, [noted in a Medium post that RideAustin (opens in a new tab)](https://austinstartups.com/rideaustin-turns-tnc-lemons-into-lemonade-df841accfd32#.1grcikfo5) was organized as a nonprofit partly due to the fact that it would allow the network to acquire investments and expand more easily, but not beyond the Austin market. “It’s easier to fund because contributions are tax deductible and investors aren’t focused on a financial return, so the risks are different,” Baer argued. “As a nonprofit and community-focused solution, it has extra press and goodwill needed to achieve critical mass quickly. With a single-metro focus, it doesn’t have to always worry about ‘how will this scale to hundreds of cities?’” The app is one of many to come out of the tech-friendly Austin in the two weeks since Proposition 1, a bill intended to roll back regulations placed on ride-hailing services by the Austin City Council, failed to pass, spurring the two leading ride-sharing companies to abruptly leave the market in protest of the rules. Uber and Lyft collectively [spent a massive $9 million (opens in a new tab)](http://cityhall.blog.statesman.com/2016/05/09/prop-1-campaign-crosses-9-million-threshold/) fighting in favor of the proposition, which would have prevented more significant background checks from taking effect. With the debate still fresh in the minds of local Austinites, local tech guru Joe Liemandt, one of the key figures behind RideAustin, is hoping to use the app as an opportunity to mend fences after a political fight [that turned into a proxy battle over the region’s identity (opens in a new tab)](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/12/opinion/how-austin-beat-uber.html?_r=0) . “There was a big fight, and the vote was had,” [Liemandt said, according to the Austin American-Statesman (opens in a new tab)](http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/transportation/austintech-leaders-launching-nonprofit-ride-hailin/nrRpk/) . “Uber and Lyft left. We are coming together to heal the wounds and move forward. If Austin wants ride-hailing, and wants it quickly, you have to have the whole community behind it. And a nonprofit is the best way to do that.” [An iPhone version of the app (opens in a new tab)](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ride-austin-non-profit-tnc/id1116489847) is already available, but the nonprofit is currently focused on getting drivers on board. Rides, at first only covering a limited area of the city, won’t start until the middle of next month. (RideAustin screenshot) [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Tags: [#Business](https://associationsnow.com/tag/business/) [#community data](https://associationsnow.com/tag/community-data/) [#nonprofit](https://associationsnow.com/tag/nonprofit/) [#ride-sharing](https://associationsnow.com/tag/ride-sharing/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [Video2025 Summit Award Recipient: National Adoption AssociationOctober 3, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/10/03/2025-summit-award-recipient-national-adoption-association/) - [VideoUrban Land Institute- Project Recovery: Rebuilding Los Angeles After the January 2025 WildfiresSeptember 24, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/24/urban-land-institute-project-recovery-rebuilding-los-angeles-after-the-january-2025-wildfires/) - [PodcastNavigating Tax Reform: Advocacy for Associations and NonprofitsDecember 19, 2024](https://associationsnow.com/2024/12/19/navigating-tax-reform-advocacy-for-associations-and-nonprofits/) - [VideoThe Career Moves Every Association Leader Needs Right NowSeptember 24, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/24/the-career-moves-every-association-leader-needs-right-now/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2016%2F05%2F25%2Faustin-tech-scene-rallies-behind-nonprofit-uber-alternative%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !