Ride hailing platform Namma Yatri is eying international expansion. The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) backed company hopes to see some international cities using their tech framework by 2025, said Shan MS, Chief Operating Officer of the company.
The ride hailing platform which focusses on a zero-commission model, claims that they have received interest from both the global south and global north. Worldwide also drivers have been facing high commissions, said Shan.
“However, India remains a large enough market for us to focus on for now. While we're not actively expanding globally at this moment, we’re open to partnerships, especially with local governments or cooperatives,” said Shan during a media interaction.
The company was recently in talks with trade unions in the USA, as per media reports. Speaking about the same, Shan said, “There were some initial discussions due to market threats from incumbents in the USA, but we decided to wait for the right partner. Our hands are quite full right now, but in 2025, we’ll be better placed to address new countries, including the USA.
The zero commission model by Namma Yatri, helps increase the additional income of drivers. The company said in a statement, “By saving drivers Rs 20,000 crore annually through its zero-commission model, the open network approach is projected to drive Rs 51,000 crore to Rs 67,000 crore in additional annual economic activity.” Shan highlighted that this model could boost GST revenues by Rs 1,000 crore annually. The increase would come because the disposable income for drivers would increase.
A white paper released by ONDC recently also highlighted that the open commission model could help increase the income of the drivers by up to 30 per cent. “How it works out at a unit economy level becomes significant. From around Rs 37,000, the monthly income would be Rs 48,000, which is something that we have seen with these models for the drivers. This in turn will help drive local consumption and in turn the economy,” said Devendra Damle, Vice President of Policy, ONDC at a session earlier.
With regards to profitability of the company, Shan said that as a pre series a company, significant cost is on product development. “We've worked hard to reduce tech infrastructure costs, operational expenses, and marketing costs. Currently, in Bangalore, we are close to being CM3 positive, meaning that our costs in the city are nearly covered. While it's still early for us to talk about profitability, we aim to improve unit economics as we scale,” he added. However, the company has highlighted that new cities will take time to become profitable, but we are working on developing a sustainable model.
Meanwhile, the company is also eyeing a fundraise. While Namma Yatri didn’t mention the exact timeline of the fundraise, Shan highlighted that the funding round will be around the end of Q1FY26. “We have received a lot of inbound interest, but we haven’t decided on the specifics yet, including how much and which players we want to engage with,” he added. The company is also planning to expand to several new cities and exploring opportunities with state governments to launch their own apps, especially in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.
