# The Drivers Cooperative

A ridehailing platform owned by workers, not the billionaires.

## Elevator pitch
Co-op Ride is a driver-owned transportation cooperative. Drivers collect a much larger share of the fare and profits go back to drivers. Most importantly drivers have a seat at the table and democratic participation in the decisions that impact their lives.

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/driverscoop
- Entity ID: wefunder:company:88509
- Last updated: 2026-06-14T05:02:57Z
- Generated at: 2026-06-15T02:48:03Z

## Quick facts
- 12x growth to over $6.1 million in revenue in 2022
- Just launched custom-built AI-augmented "Co-op 2.0" rideshare app: https://drivers.coop/download
- $30/hr guarantee for drivers on paratransit contracts
- Over 10,000 drivers signed up so far
- NEW direct contracts with the MTA, largest transit agency in North America
- 100% worker-owned
- Three loans paid off in full- over $250,000 paid back to investors/lenders
- Expanding to a second city- Denver- and then the world!

## Active fundraises
- wefunder:fundraise:97446: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)
- wefunder:fundraise:46250: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)
- wefunder:fundraise:46637: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)

## FAQ
1. **Where is Appendix A to the contract?**
   - We're looking into this- the materials referenced are listed under "Outstanding Debts" in the "Details" tab, and on our Form C. We will follow up shortly.
2. **I think this cooperative is a great initiative! That said, I'd like to hear how The Drivers Cooperative will attain profitability when better funded ride-hailing apps like Juno, which to my knowledge gave a greater percentage of fares to drivers compared to Uber/Lyft, had to s...**
   - Great question, Alvin! A big part of the answer is by maintaining positive unit economics, and the other part is in how we are financed and through maintaining lean operations. Juno attempted to beat Uber at their own game by charging riders less than a trip cost. Our fare/pay formula ensures that the co-op stays positive on each trip, while through lower overhead, we are able to undercut on price. Uber, Lyft, and Juno were all trying to buy the market by operating at a loss. Our approach is ...
3. **I see that there's a $25,000 grant that's included in the revenue. Is this a one-off or is this going to be recurring? If so, for how long?**
   - That was a one-off, but we do plan to apply for grants in the future. We currently have two applications in for $300,000 in grants.
4. **So... 100% driver owned, except... for the investors? What's the thought here?**
   - The investment is a revenue-share agreement, not equity. We did that to preserve driver ownership.
5. **So if I invest you’re not gonna go public because you do not want to be owned by wall street ..is that correct ?**
   - Exactly. There is actually no legal way for us to go public– we would need to completely change our corporate structure, we are a Worker Cooperative Corporation, which means that instead of common stock, we have "Membership Shares." Under our bylaws, only drivers can own shares. This investment vehicle creates a way for us to raise capital to pay back investors out of a revenue share, while maintaining 100% worker ownership.

## Team
- New York City Drivers (Co-Founders)
- David Alexis (Driver Engagement)
- Erik Forman (Co-Founder, Strategic Initiatives)
- Mohammad Hossen (Board Member, Co-Founder)
- Steve Sleigh (Board Member)
- Shaun Beckles (Board Member)
- Michael Ugwu (Board Member)
- Mariam Ouedraogo (Board Member)
- Dionne Rutherford (Board Member)

## Q&A
- Q: I see that I asked about distributions last October and never received a response. Now that you are raising a second round of financing that promises the same returns, when do you plan to start distributing payments for the first round of funding? I see that this round has specific dates, but I don't recall this from the first round.
  - A: Hi Matthew! Apologies that we missed your question. The first round had a three-year hold, so distributions are scheduled to begin April 30, 2025. The early bird part of this round will start repayment then as well. The rest of this round will start 36 months from close of this round.
- Q: Based on answers to other questions, it seems as though the bylaws prevent anyone besides drivers from owning shares. While I'm a big fan of this in terms of getting the interests of capital out of business decisions, I'm somewhat concerned that the workers building the platform itself (that is to say, the customer support, software engineers, financial bookkeepers, etc) seem to be getting cut out of ownership. What was the impetus behind the decision to exclude these workers from ownership/revenue-share, and indeed writing that restriction into the bylaws, and is there any plan to change that so that the workers who build the platform can have an equal share of ownership to those who operate it?
  - A: While formally, non-driver workers do not own shares, under our bylaws they do have a voice in the co-op and a right to share in profits. The staff elect representatives to the board of directors, which hires management. Our bylaws also guarantee all workers due process, which is typically something you only see in union contracts in the US (and labor law in most other countries). At some point in the future, we may amend the bylaws to issue shares to non-driver workers, we want to do this carefully to protect drivers as the key stakeholder in the cooperative, and the group that faces the most profound exploitation in this industry.
- Q: Hi Folks. I hope you're well. It has been a very long time since you've updated your website (your last annual report is for 2023) or provided an investor update here. Please update folks even if the results aren't great.
- Q: So if I invest you’re not gonna go public because you do not want to be owned by wall street ..is that correct ?
  - A: Exactly. There is actually no legal way for us to go public– we would need to completely change our corporate structure, we are a Worker Cooperative Corporation, which means that instead of common stock, we have "Membership Shares." Under our bylaws, only drivers can own shares. This investment vehicle creates a way for us to raise capital to pay back investors out of a revenue share, while maintaining 100% worker ownership.
  - A: More about Worker Cooperative Corporations here: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CCO/88
- Q: when do you plan to start distributing payments for the round of funding? I see that this round has specific dates, but I don't recall this from the first round.
- Q: From the founder's (Erik Forman) LinkedIn, sounds like this is dead "Built a driver-owned rideshare cooperative from scratch to upgrade job quality in the gig economy. Raised over $3.5 million, built a leadership team, grew the business to over $12 million in revenue and over 300,000 trips, recruited over 12,000 drivers, built a world-class rideshare app, created systems to provide a $30/hr living wage guarantee for drivers, and managed to have a little fun here and there along the way but it was mainly just a lot of work. Exited to worker self-management." Small ray of optimism that there is still activity on Minsun Ji's LinkedIn (below), but per previous company responses in this thread, payouts were supposed to start April 30, 2025 and I have seen no signs of that coming. https://www.linkedin.com/in/minsun-ji-10047b223/ Any updates from anyone?
- Q: Any update on how the company is doing?
- Q: Greetings and congratulations on your achievements! In round one, I thought of my investment as more of a donation (with a potential nice surprise attached should the project succeed), but as I ponder whether and how much to re-up for round two, I would like to make sure I understand the mechanics of the contract. In particular, assuming early bird terms, 1. Will the first payment be calculated based on the revenue: a. from the close of this funding round, or b. over the preceding quarter (2025Q1), or c. will not be an actual payment ($0) but mark the beginning of the revenue share accrual period. 2. Does the 2.5x cap apply a. every year (as the somewhat cryptic clause 3D seems to imply 🤔), or b. over the 10 year period of the contract? (as common sense would perhaps suggest) 3. Assuming 2b above, does the 2.5x cap a. include the principal, or b. apply to the revenue share portion only (so that in total 3.5x could be repaid) 4. Approximately what portion of your reported 2022 revenue of ~$6M would have been included in the "Benchmark Revenue" as defined in the note?
- Q: First off congrats on all the amazing progress. I am also an investor in round #1 and considering investing again in round 2. My question is, on the B2C side of the business. What are your growth targets for B2C? Your public facing reviews are pretty spotty and there are not very many, both for drivers and for consumers on both apple and google app store. Since there is not a lot of online presence for your company to help promote use, are you concerned about improving your image from a public reviews stand point for B2C or are you more focused on government and B2B in the next couple years? I am linking some reviews https://apps.apple.com/us/app/co-op-drive/id1600168345?see-all=reviews
  - A: It's definitely something we are working on. We have had operational challenges with a migration from our legacy system to the new system, which are fortunately now behind us. In the short-term, we remain focused on B2G2C, but we do plan to launch a B2C initiative soon. Our goal is 10% of the $4.8 Billion NYC B2C rideshare market and 30% of the $160 million prescheduled (mostly B2G2C market). We'll be opening up a data room and will be holding an open house to share more about plans. We will send out an invite to all currrent investors. Hope to connect there- and please feel free to share any other questions.
- Q: Hi! Can you provide an update on your progress? I'm curious to hear how this is going! Thanks,
- Q: Where are the bylaws on the Driver Cooperative website and how do the investment terms work considering that the investors don't own shares of the cooperative?
- Q: Do you plan on expanding to other cities, such as Los Angeles?
  - A: Yes! That is definitely our medium-term goal!
- Q: It’s been quite a while since any news or updates from you. Can you tell us where things stand?
- Q: What happens if the early bird goal of $600k isn't reached? Will the company still accept whatever funds are committed and move forward with the 2.5x revenue share terms or is there a minimum amount that must be raised in order for this investment round to "close"?
- Q: I have invested throughout this website, and my question: When will investors receive the revenue?