[Techtaffy Newsdesk]

Hailo has received $17 million in Series A financing, led by Accel Partners. Hailo, a smartphone-based application which allows passengers to order a licensed cab with an iPhone or Android device and launched in London in November 2011, will use the funding to accelerate growth in London and Dublin and expand into North America. Hailo has 45 Employees in London and is based on a ship, moored on the Thames.

Co-founded by three London cab drivers and three technology entrepreneurs, the company received initial seed money from Wellington Partners, early investors in Spotify, and Atomico, the international venture capital firm that is headquartered in London and was founded by Niklas Zennström, who is best known for co-founding Skype.

Valkin, from Accel’s London office, will join the Hailo board, and Palo Alto partner Sameer Gandhi will join the board as an observer. Existing investors Atomico Ventures and Wellington Partners also participated in the round, and Daniel Waterhouse from Wellington Partners will also join the Hailo Board. Chris Dark from Atomico Ventures also joins as a Board observer.

Hailo is a network that matches passengers and licensed taxi drivers. Hailo was launched to the public on 1 November 2011 and is completely free to download and use. Hailo has been downloaded nearly 200,000 times by consumers and has an average 5-star review on more than 700 reviews on the iTunes App Store (UK), says the company.

[Image Courtesy: Hailo]