InDrive Eyes Financial Services To Bolster Presence In Developing Markets

Ride-hailing company inDrive is exploring financial services products in the developing markets where it is active.

Mark Loughran, the company’s president and deputy CEO, who joined the company last summer, said that the move would enable greater financial stability for drivers on the platform.

InDrive was founded in Russia and is now headquartered in the U.S. Much of its business is in developing markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America but last year ventured into the U.S. market with a launch in Miami.

Loughran joined inDrive to grow these various parts of the business as well as develop new ones, including a $100 million program to support businesses in developing regions.

The move into financial services would be targeted at drivers in markets where there may be financial instability and strain.

“[It’s] for those drivers in the developing markets, when something happens in their family or maybe something happens to their vehicle or their bike or whatever and they need to fix it. We’ve been starting to look at financial services and options there, just piloting some ideas.”

The plans are at an early stage, Loughran said, but the company is looking at potential partnerships in these markets with services like lending in mind for drivers and delivery riders that need financing for cars or bikes.

“On the financial services side, it’s more helping with thinking about access to financial services, like small term loans. You’re talking about people who would have previously no banking credibility at all,” Loughran said.

“They wouldn’t be able to do that, where they’d have to go for a loan is not a good option for them or their families. So [we’re] looking at different ways that we could support them, we’re testing it on a very small scale.”

The model of providing financial services, namely loans, to delivery and ride-hailing companies is not a new one with fintech start-ups popping up in recent years to address that market. This includes Moove, which is active in Africa.

“It’s back to our commitment to make sure that those increasing numbers of drivers can be supported, their earnings can be stable and also it can work for them financially, which is why we take the low percentage take rate versus our competitors,” Loughran said.

Late last year, inDrive launched a $100 million program to invest in businesses in emerging markets in a bid to further its presence there and support smaller enterprises. While inDrive has focused heavily on ride-hailing and deliveries in these developing regions, it launched in the U.S. last year with tentative steps into Miami.

InDrive differentiates itself from competitors like Uber and Lyft with its bidding model where passengers can negotiate a fee for their journey rather than a set price. InDrive takes up to 10% in commission, depending on the market.

Loughran said the U.S. expansion remains nascent with no immediate plans to move into other cities. Rather, the company is refining the Miami business and gathering data on its performance.

“It’s been probably four months or something [since the Miami launch]. It’s some period of time but not an enormous period of time. I think we just need to continue with that model and obviously look at is it sustainable? Will it continue to grow into next year with the same enthusiasm as it started? How does the profitability look?” he said.

“The cost of doing business in the U.S. is very different from some of the other markets. This is our chance to learn that and make sure we get the whole offering correct.”

The company would not disclose any driver or passenger numbers in Miami.

Loughran is a former executive at Microsoft and Honeywell and joined inDrive in July 2023 while the company raised $150 million in funding almost a year ago to expand the business’s geographic footprint and its other verticals like delivery.

InDrive does not disclose any revenue figures but Loughran said that the company is “on a good track” to profitability.

“Now it’s about us making sure that we get to the right level of scale to make sure that the investment that we’ve got in our central tech stacks and everything else can then be absorbed by the number of the rides. We’ve got a very strong focus on that, we’re certainly on a path to that, so I would be positive about our path to that.”