Ride-hailing firm inDrive is projecting significant growth in the Malaysian market, expecting the number of drivers in its ecosystem to double from the current 10,000 by the end of 2024.
Group president and deputy chief executive officer Mark Loughran told national news agency Bernama that inDrive was the fourth most downloaded ride-hailing app in Malaysia last year, and is currently the world’s second most downloaded ride-hailing app.
“This growth can be attributed to the increasing interest in inDrive’s unique fare-bidding system, which allows both riders and drivers to bid for a mutually agreed price,” he said in an interview.
Although still in its early stages, Loughran believes that this feature has tremendous potential to enhance access to affordable transportation, while driving future growth of the app and its operations.
“We now cover major cities across the country, including Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Johor Bahru, as well as Kuching, Miri, Sibu, Bintulu and Kota Kinabalu in East Malaysia, providing accessible and affordable ride-hailing services,” he was quoted as saying.
inDrive also foresees its courier and intercity services becoming major contributors to its revenue streams, besides its ride-hailing service.
“We offer a diverse range of services to cater to various customer needs, allowing us to capture a larger share of the market,” he said.
The app also offers in-app specialist services, allowing users to request professionals for tasks such as repairs and construction, appliance installation and repair, cleaning, pet services, professional services, tutorials and training as well as computer and information technology (IT) services.
“We will continuously analyse market trends and customer feedback to enhance and expand our offerings in this area, while customers continue to enjoy our familiar bidding model that guarantees a price that is fair to all parties involved,” he said.
In Malaysia, inDrive mainly compete with Singapore-headquartered ride-hailing and super app Grab, which also offers food delivery and FinTech services. Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia Group has launched e-hailing services, AirAsia Ride in the capital city Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2021. Its super app AirAsia Move allows its passengers to book flights and hotels, flight check-in and provide other services such as movie tickets, insurance, gift sending, among others.
Founded in 2013 and incorporated in the US in 2018, inDrive is available in over 749 cities across 46 countries today, information from its website showed. In 2022 the company pulled out of Russia, having divested its Russian business. In 2022 and again in 2023, inDrive was the second most downloaded ride-hailing app worldwide based on Google Play and App Store data, according to its website.
Reuters reported in March inDrive has secured another $150 million in financing from venture capital firm General Catalyst to expand its services and enter new markets.
The company had received an initial $150 million from General Catalyst last year.
The funds come from a hybrid debt instrument that “links repayment to inDrive’s performance,” the company said via email to Reuters, as it aims to roll out operations in new cities and countries.