Bengaluru-based ride-hailing platform Namma Yatri is reportedly in the early stages of exploring expansion into the US market.
According to a Money control According to the report, the company is in talks with several unions in the US, aiming to gain a foothold in a space dominated by giants like Uber and Lyft.
Juspay will support the expansion
The report further added that Juspay, which spun off Namma Yatri into a separate business in April this year, will support the company’s expansion in the US market.
Juspay recently obtained a payment aggregator license from the Reserve Bank of India and announced plans to enter international markets, including the US.
Challenges in the US market
Biju Mathew, co-founder of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA), highlighted the challenges of entering this market, saying: “It’s a free market and anyone with a better product can enter, but the question is whether they can sustain it because the taxi industry is a very low-margin business.”
He said the US market is also dominated by two players, Uber and Lyft.
“The situation for drivers in the US is no different than in India. Companies cannot expand into a new market without reducing fares, and if fares go down, the driver doesn’t make money. Companies that enter a market with a huge capital investment also have to promise a rate of return to investors,” Mathew told the publication.
If Namma Yatri enters the US market, the company will compete with Uber, Didi, Grab and Lyft. However, the partnership with unions will give the Indian company an edge and take off as there is some unrest among drivers and consumers.
The current focus remains on the Indian market
While talks on expansion in the US continue, Namma Yatri’s primary focus remains on expanding its presence within India.
It currently operates in Karnataka (Bengaluru, Mysuru, Tumakuru), Kerala (Kochi), West Bengal (Kolkata, Asansol-Durgapur, Siliguri), Telangana (Hyderabad), Tamil Nadu (Chennai) and Delhi.
The report comes a month after raised 11 million dollars (approximately Rs 91 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round led by Blume Ventures and Antler, with participation from tech giant Google, led by Sundar Pichai, and other investors.
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