As the fight over a Minneapolis rideshare ordinance heated up in 2023, Mustafa Sheikh followed the debate from a bustling city in the Ethiopian highlands.

The Somali refugee had spent more than two years as an Uber driver in San Diego. Now he was working in Jijiga, Ethiopia, to get a new rideshare service — Hich — off the ground. And he and his partners saw an opportunity for an app that would give the largely immigrant and East African drivers in Minnesota a bigger piece of the pie.

On Thursday, Hich will roll out service in Minneapolis, St. Paul and, if it completes the permitting process, at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Hich is the latest of three small rideshare companies to launch in the Twin Cities since early May. All three face a changed landscape since the Legislature approved an end-of-session deal that will keep industry titans Uber and Lyft from leaving the state.

According to Sheikh, he and his five business partners have spent as much as $400,000 to get up and running in Minnesota. After eight months, he has 300 drivers prepared for background checks and expects to have at least 250 ready by launch day.

Hich initially planned to charge drivers $200 a month, or $9.99 per day, to use the app. The company now plans to give drivers three months of free access while it sorts out pricing. Drivers will keep all passenger fares, and they'll have a chance to buy ownership shares in the company.

It's part of a model that Sheikh calls "conscious capitalism."

"There's a way I can make money," Sheikh said. "And I can make my investors money without stepping on the workers."

When Sheikh arrived in Minnesota last December to open a Hich office in Bloomington, he found a chilly reception. City officials discouraged him from spending the thousands required for a transportation network company (TNC) license. Drivers laughed in his face and couldn't believe that someone like them — Black and Muslim — wanted to compete against "multi-billion-dollar giants" like Uber and Lyft.

To combat the skeptics, Sheikh said, he met drivers while they were out taking rides at the airport. After driving for Uber in California, he understood the flexibility that attracts rideshare drivers and the way they must be strategic to unlock bonuses for a decent hourly wage. After months of meeting drivers, some began to come on board.

Abdisalan Alinur, a full-time rideshare driver for the past six years, said his earnings have dwindled in recent years even though he's working 80 to 90 hours a week. He has signed up to drive for Hich.

"Mustafa came to me, so that's something different," he said.

The second challenge Sheikh faced was what he referred to as "city bureaucracies" when applying for licenses. "You're talking to a government official that makes you feel like they're discouraging you from even coming in," Sheikh said.

Hich was approved to operate in Minneapolis in early July, but Sheikh said he wanted to wait to get clearance to operate at the airport and in St. Paul before taking the first rides.

While Hich Minnesota has done little marketing so far, he said the company, which has five full-time employees and five interns, plans to work with a local marketing firm once the app goes live.

"Projections are very conservative," Sheikh said. "You know, the first month if we do 30 rides [a day], we're happy. Second month if you double that, we're happy."

As he builds a passenger base, Sheikh said he knows drivers will continue using other apps.

"I welcome it, because if I tell the drivers to turn your Uber app off, how are they going to pay their living?" Sheikh said. "If Uber retaliates, it will test this whole concept that they're independent drivers."

Kafi Ali, a nursing student turned rideshare driver, said he's appreciated the features he's seen from Hich, including one that could help passengers pick their favorite drivers for trips.

Sheikh said there's room in the market for the rideshare giants as well as smaller players like Hich. He said some of the smaller apps could see a bump in December, when the statewide pay floor goes into effect.

"My idea is the cake is here, it's enough, we know you can share this cake in a way that sustains the market and the people," he said.

Two other rideshare alternatives are already up and running in the Twin Cities. MyWeels has been approved for a license in Minneapolis, St. Paul and the airport, and Texas-based Wridz was licensed to offer rides in Minneapolis in mid-May.

MyWeels owner Elam Baer said his business now has more than 300 drivers, which is in line with the conservative approach he initially planned to take.

Wridz recently received approval in St. Paul and is working toward approval at the airport. Owner Steve Wright said the company has between 500 and 1,000 drivers and that sign-ups have slowed recently, but he expects an increase in December once the new minimum-pay law goes into effect.

About the partnership

This story comes to you from Sahan Journal, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering Minnesota's immigrants and communities of color. Sign up for a free newsletter to receive Sahan's stories in your inbox.