And with Uber locked out of the Iran for the foreseeable future due to U.S. sanctions, startup Snapp is seizing its chance to become the leading local player. Shahram Shahkar launched "the Iranian Uber" in 2014 when he returned to his home country after studying and working in the U.K. and Canada. In designing the app, Shahkar took account of other local market factors. Snapp is already available in four cities and will "soon be covering all the major cities of Iran," Shakhar said. Snapp claims to have 80% of the market but doesn't have Iran's streets entirely to itself.

Source: CNN July 31, 2017 03:22 UTC