Case study · Logistics
Sumeru Cabs
A stealth mode cab startup with no product team of its own.
- Client
- Sumeru
- Service
- Product design and development
- Sector
- Transport and mobility
- Status
- Ongoing
At a glance
Where it has reached
The working prototype is what the founders took to investors, and it helped them close funding.
No developers, no UI designers. The client's own words: they did not have any of the resources.
A project manager, UI/UX designers and a marketing head, coordinated by the CEO at the start.
The engagement is still in progress. What is described here is what exists so far.
The brief
A vision, and nobody to build it
Sumeru is an early stage, stealth mode startup building an app based cab service for its city. The founders had a clear ambition — an easy, genuinely usable way to book a cab at minimal cost, and a shot at becoming a distinctive aggregator in their region.
What they did not have was anyone to build it. No developers, no UI designers, no product function at all. For a startup at that stage the gap is existential rather than inconvenient: without something to show, there is no investment, and without investment there is no team.
For a pre-seed startup the first deliverable is not a product. It is something credible enough to raise on.
Where it stands
A prototype that did its job
The outcome so far is a prototype of the application, and what it did matters more than what it contained: the founders used it to secure investment. That is the correct measure for a company at this stage, because the prototype's purpose was never to serve passengers. It was to make an abstract pitch concrete enough for someone to fund.
The project is still in progress. There is no live service yet and therefore no operational metrics — no ride volumes, no booking figures, no retention numbers. Anything of that kind attached to this project would be premature.
Wow Labz was selected on a referral from a former colleague of the founders who had worked with the team previously.
How it worked
An outsourced product function
The team the client did not have
A project manager first, to absorb the founders' vision, then UI/UX designers, and a marketing head to help build the website. The CEO coordinated directly for the first few days.
Research, not just requirements
The client singles this out: the team did not simply implement what was asked, but researched independently and came back proposing better approaches.
Deadlines that held
Also the client's assessment. For a company raising on a timeline, a date that moves is not a scheduling problem, it is a fundraising one.
Stack
What it was built with
Questions
Sumeru Cabs, answered
What is Sumeru Cabs?
An early stage, stealth mode app based cab service. Wow Labz is building the application and its design as the client's outsourced product team.
What has been delivered so far?
A prototype of the application, which the founders used to help secure investment. The project is still in progress.
Why is there no performance metric?
Because there is no live service yet. The engagement is ongoing and the prototype's job was to raise funding, not to carry passengers, so ride or booking figures do not exist to report.
What did the engagement cover?
A project manager to absorb the product vision, UI/UX designers, and a marketing head supporting the website, with the CEO coordinating at the outset. The client had no in-house developers or designers.
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