Hailo is leaving North America—but maybe not Toronto

Hailo, the taxi-hailing app that has been ingratiating its way onto Toronto’s smartphones since its local launch in 2012, is either leaving town immediately or staying in business indefinitely, depending on whom you believe. The Financial Times, for its part, says Hailo is ceasing all of its North American operations because of intensifying competition from similar startups. Meanwhile, Hailo Canada president Justin Raymond has published a brief blog post in which he assures drivers and riders that the Toronto branch of the company isn’t going anywhere. TechCrunch reports that Hailo Toronto is hoping to remain open through a licensing deal, under which it would presumably use the Hailo name while operating independently of the mother corp. No matter what happens, though, there’s always Uber (unless it gets sued out of existence by Toronto’s taxi establishment).

UPDATE: And TechCrunch is now reporting that there will be no licensing deal for Hailo Toronto.