After Spike In Gas Prices In Egypt, “Tink” Launches To Make Commuters Share The Tank

Amid the most recent rise of fuel prices, many people grew more and more concerned about their commute and how much it will cost them to go to work. The Ministry of Petroleum announced a EGP 1.2 increase per litre of gasoline and diesel fuel during the weekend. The decision was part of the IMF deal and should be the last gas prices hike. Social media was raided with posts expressing frustration about this issue. Then, came an unusual video on the platform claiming that an app is offering lower fuel prices. So in order to check how true this is, we sat down with Tink’s Co-Founder Tamer El-Mahrouky to know all about this mystery.

Launched one week ago, Tink is a car-sharing app that connects people from similar communities and social networks, so that people going to the specific destination can come together and share a ride. So far, the Cairo-based app gathers people from the same community, using Facebook. So, users would ride with friends, acquaintances or friends of friends, creating a network and a safe experience.

In an attempt to assure the ease of the ride, Tink’s team chose to make their service cashless: users pre-pay their rides with points and car owners get points that can be redeemed later to cash or used in another ride. These points are called “Tink Tokens,” where as one Token equals to one kilometre per passenger.

“By using Tink, a car owner saves all his running costs without getting out of his preferred route or exerting any kind of additional effort. A rider would pay at least one-third the price offered by ride-hailing apps or cabs. All they need to do is select the most convenient pick-up point on the driver’s route, and get there,” El-Mahrouky tells Startup Scene, when asked about the solution that Tink provides for rising fuel prices.

Enrolled in AUC Venture Lab’s 11^th cycle, Tink gets money by taking a 20% commission on each transaction. The app is currently focusing on providing rides from/to Sahel. The rides are coordinated first on a Facebook group, and then the team walks you through the app.

This is not the first time for El-Mahrouky to be concerned with Cairo’s transportation landscape. In 2012, he started an initiative called “Emshi Fe 7artak.” which calls people out to stick to their lanes. Tink’s idea came from the desire to solve the city's long-lasting problem of traffic. ”Since I launched “Emshi fe 7artak” campaign back in 2012, and shared rides with random people in the streets, especially motorists, I started to think how we could create an affordable, safe and fun mode of transportation, and thus "Tink" was created,” El-Mahrouky explains.

The app plans to focus on large communities in East and West Cairo, like companies and universities. In addition to spread their service across Egypt on the longer run. 

Tink's team consists of Tamer El-Mahrouky, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Adel El-Mahrouky Co-Founder and Marketing Director, Omar Sultan Co-Founder and CTO, Mohamed Abdelhalim Co-Founder and Product Development Manager and lastly Amal Abdel-Rehem, Community Manager.