GasMob has been designed to make filling up a personal vehicle or corporate fleet safe and easier. The app assists people in contracted residential and office complexes to those visiting hotels and malls. Here customers, via the app, can schedule vehicle-refueling services with just a few simple clicks and bypass traditional brick-and-mortar gas stations.
Drawing on industry relationships, the developers aim for prices to be highly competitive and in most cases less than the local average per gallon. GasMob is also committed to a reduction of environmental impact. The company’s vehicle-to-vehicle transfers eliminate the need for underground tank storage, decreasing pollution and significantly minimizing the carbon footprint.
To understand more about this new automotive service, Digital Journal spoke to co-founder Adam Cooper.
Digital Journal: How are apps in general reshaping business transactions?
Adam Cooper: We live in a 24/7 digitally connected world where a recent report estimated that the average smartphone user uses over 30 apps per month with a US average of 10 apps per day. Apps bring efficiency and convenience to the everyday task – from checking the weather or daily headlines, to finding the traffic-free route to work, ordering a last minute birthday gift, reserving a table at a favorite restaurant, even paying the babysitter at the end of a night out.
DJ: Why did you found GasMob?
Cooper: Brad (Brad Cooper, co-founder) and I grew up in Manhattan and have watched the skyline change to accommodate the increased need for residential properties; but there is a finite amount of land, so warehouses have been converted to trendy lofts and luxury residential towers now exist where gas stations once did. There are less than fifteen gas stations remaining to serve the estimated 1.4 million households that own a car, and the majority are on either the northern tip or western edge of the island. Long lines, inconvenient locations and the hassle that filling up your car can bring is not unique to the city. GasMob was conceived as a solution to that – if we can have groceries, takeout, and other everyday necessities delivered, why not gasoline?
DJ: How did you develop the app?
Cooper:Brad and I both have a finance background and I segued into technology a few years ago as the co-founder of Wine n Dine. Our skill sets were bolstered by the unrivaled industry expertise of our partners, Brannon and Mason Thompson, 4th generation of a respected oil and gas family. The app was then brought to life by an incredibly talented CTO and team of developers.
DJ: Who is the app aimed at?
Cooper:Frankly, GasMob brings tremendous benefit to anyone who drives. We work closely with large residential and commercial property owners and managers who offer the app to residents and tenants as an extension of their amenity suite; fleet managers who appreciate the ability to refill vehicles during off hours, avoiding employee downtime and the need to process hundreds of individual receipts; as well as the individual end-user.
DJ: How have gasoline providers reacted?
We purchase our fuel from the same providers that the gas stations do – but our vehicle-to-vehicle transfers eliminate the need for underground tank storage proudly allowing us to do our part in decreasing pollution and minimizing the carbon footprint.
DJ: What is the funding mechanism?
Cooper: We are currently self-funded but are in the process of raising capital through strategic partners.
DJ: How else do you see the automotive sector changing over the next five years?
Cooper:There is remarkable change going on throughout the automotive industry with disruptors like electric and autonomous vehicles really shaking things up. It is projected that more than 81.5 million cars will be sold globally in 2018, this is big business and there is big opportunity, but legacy manufacturers and ancillary providers are going to need to look to technology and innovation to remain relevant.
