Google has joined investors backing Moving Tech, the parent company of Nama Yatri, an open-source Indian ride-hailing app that is taking market share from Uber and Ola with its commission-free model.
Nama Yatri runs on the Open Network for Digital Commerce, an interoperable system backed by the Indian government that aims to democratize e-commerce in the world's most populous country. Nama Yatri's app connects customers with autorickshaw and taxi drivers and doesn't charge either for the ride. Instead, the startup collects a small monthly fee from its driver-partners.
In comparison, Uber and Ola charge drivers 25-30% of the trip fare and have refused to join the ONDC network for their core mobility services.Moving Tech co-founders Magizhan Selvan and Shan MS told TechCrunch that they saw an opportunity after hearing about drivers' frustrations and realizing they were unhappy with how they were being treated under the existing system.
“There was a lack of a differentiated approach,” MS said, reflecting on the decade-long dominance of Uber and Ola in India. Moving Tech operates without customer discounts or extra incentives for drivers. The company aims to succeed by offering a service that people find genuinely useful, he added.
Selvan, who personally drove over 500 autorickshaw trips to understand the challenges drivers face, said the startup's guiding principle is to infuse empathy into the service.
Nama Yatri operates in over six Indian cities, including Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and has completed over 46 million rides since its launch in 2022, according to its public dashboard. Nama Yatri was originally launched by Jaspay, a financial services startup backed by SoftBank.
He also said the startup does not see a need to raise large amounts of capital and is operationally profitable.
Over the past decade, India has pursued an ambitious strategy to digitize its economy and public services through the “India Stack,” a set of open APIs for identity, payments, and data sharing. This government-led initiative aims to create a unified digital infrastructure that can be leveraged by both the public and private sectors to serve India's 1.4 billion citizens more efficiently and comprehensively.
Over the past decade, India has revolutionized mobile payments in the country with an interoperable network called UPI that now processes more than 11 billion transactions each month, more than all card companies combined.
Google, which has committed to investing $10 billion in India, participated in Nama Yatri's $11 million pre-Series A funding round. The Bengaluru-based startup said the investment was co-led by Bloom Ventures and Antler.
Kartik Reddy, Partner at Bloom Ventures, said Moving Tech is at the forefront of mobility transformation with its “fresh and innovative model.” He added, “We were blown away by the simplicity with which technology and robust products can solve mass mobility problems. We are excited to partner with the outstanding team and support their ambitious vision.”
Nama Yatri's founders said they plan to use the new funding to expand their engineering and research and development teams, adding that they also aim to expand their service to more types of transport, including buses.