User owned carpool platform runs on Bitcoin style digital tokens

La'Zooz is a decentralized, real time, lift-share platform, owned by its users and run on digital Zooz tokens.

Regular readers of Springwise will be aware of the abundance of companies offering monetized carpool schemes. Among them are Green Monkeys and SideCar, which both enable lift-sharing within communities, in an attempt to fill empty back seats and decongest roads the world over.

The latest of these is La’Zooz — and its founders are hoping it is going to be the first service that makes real time ride sharing popular enough to have a significant impact on urban congestion. La’Zooz is a platform which enables potential drivers and passengers to connect in real-time, filling up spare seats and sharing the cost of the journey. However, rather than splitting petrol money or paying the driver a fee, both parties are rewarded with a digital crypto-currency built on Bitcoin 2.0 technology, called Zooz.

The key difference between La’Zooz and earlier platforms is its decentralized model — La’Zooz is not owned by its founders or any other outside investor. Rather, it is owned by the platform’s community of users. It creates partners of its participants by rewarding them with Zooz tokens, based on how much they contribute to improving the system through their movement. Since the service relies on a large user base to function, for now, contributing simply involves driving around with the app open and GPS connected — “mining” Zooz tokens by ‘proof of movement’. Eventually, when a critical mass of participants is reached, the ride sharing functionality will become active.

Are there any companies that could partner with La’Zooz to accelerate the service’s growth?