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Meet the Israeli Competing With Uber — by Treating Drivers Better

Talmon Marco speaks during TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2016 at Brooklyn Cruise Terminal on May 10, 2016 in New York City. Image by Getty Images

By Josefin Dolsten July 30, 2016

An Israeli businessman is challenging car service giant Uber in a simple but revolutionary way — by catering to its drivers.

“Uber is an ethically broken company,” Talmon Marco told Crains New York, referring to the popular ride share application, which allows users to order a car using their smartphones. Uber drivers have complained they are not being paid enough.

“If you have a company that is not ethical delivering a certain service, it raises the need for one that is,” Marco said.

Marco is the founder of New York-based ride sharing service Juno, whose launch date has not been announced. Juno not only pays drivers more (the company takes only 10% commission compared to Uber’s 5-25%) but also gives them a stake in the company — half of its founding shares distributed to those who work for the company full time for 24 out of 30 months, according to Fast Company.

Thrilled drivers are reportedly recruiting passengers riding on competitor applications Uber and Lyft to join Juno.

Marco was born in Israel in 1973 and served as the chief information officer for the Central Command of the Israel Defense Forces, according to Bloomberg. He received a degree in computer science and management from Tel Aviv University.

In 2010, he and three other Israelis founded smartphone messaging application Viber, which e-commerce giant Rakuten bought four years later for $900 million.

Marco hopes that Juno’s unique philosophy and added perks, such as providing drivers with free smartphones and $50 per week for simply keeping the application running on their phones prior to its official launch, will appeal to drivers as well as passengers.

“We believe that passengers will be attracted to the fact that we are an ethical company that properly treats its drivers,” he said, according to Fast Company.

Marco could not be reached for comment.

Contact Josefin Dolsten at dolsten@forward.com or on Twitter, @JosefinDolsten

Josefin Dolsten is a New York-based writer who has reported for the Forward, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Times of Israel and other Jewish publications. She currently works as an account director at Fenton Communications, supporting organizations that work to advance racial justice, LGBTQ+ equality, reproductive rights and more. Dolsten earned her B.A. in government from Cornell University and her M.A. in comparative religion and Jewish studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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