One more acquisition in on-demand driver services market, DriversKart acquires Mumbai-based Driven
Chennai-based DriversKart, an on-demand chauffeur provider, has acquired Mumbai-based Driven in an equity and cash deal.
Last month, DriversKart had raised pre-Series A funding led by Namit Agarwal, Primarc Group, Lead Angels, ah! Ventures, and Silicon Valley investors.
Vinit Srivastava, Co-founder and CEO of DriversKart, said, “Driven has a very strong team and good presence in the Mumbai consumer market and there is immediate value in this deal for DriversKart. We get access to a team who was equally excited and passionate about this space and have had tremendous learnings in short span of time.”
Founded in August 2015 by Arun Gandhi, Aman Sancheti, Gaurav Deshmukh, Nikhil Tavora, and Shivalik Sen, Driven has been serving almost 1,000 customers a month, making an average of Rs 400 per ride.
Its real-time technology aggregates the existing network of temporary drivers who can be hired on an hourly basis, rather than being on the monthly payroll. Driven so far has hired 67 drivers based on interviews, various background checks, and police verification.
Driven Founder and CEO Shivalik said, “We believe that this acquisition helps Driven be part of a bigger brand and together will provide greater reach across the country.”
Gaining foothold
Chennai-based DriversKart, run by Get Driven Technology, serves 10,000 rides a month and currently operates in Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, and Pune. Founded in September 2015 by IIM Calcutta alumnus Vinit Srivastava, the startup has a team of 20 employees.
Post this acquisition, DriversKart claims to be the market leader in India’s on-demand driver marketplace. DriversKart has been the preferred chauffeur provider for self-drive car rental companies like Zoomcar and Justride, and has strong presence in both B2B and B2C segment. With a network of 200 professional and background-verified drivers, DriversKart is available on both Android and iOS platform.
“We have strict onboarding and training programmes for the drivers on its platform. And we only onboard drivers after successful verification by renowned third-party verification agencies,” said Vinit.
On-demand driver services is in demand
To everyone’s surprise, on-demand driver services market in India has witnessed two Merger & Acquisition deals in one month. The announcement of collaboration between DriversKart and Driven came after one week of Bengaluru-based DriveU’s acquisition of CallAtHome.
DriveU plans to get strong hold of the commutation services in Gurgaon and over 500 driver partners across India with the acquisition. DriversKart aims to capture the Mumbai market by leveraging Driven’s 1,000 per month customers.
DriveU charges customers a fee of Rs 99 per hour and surge price of Rs 50 to 250 for one way between 9 pm and 7 am. So far, it has served 30,000 trips to over 12,000 customers, of which over 60 per cent are women.
Another player in this space is Gurgaon-based Drivebud, which offers an alternative to hiring full-time drivers. With 25 drivers on payroll and around 80 drivers work on freelance basis, it has witnessed more than 1,500 registered users so far.
The growing need of verified and professional drivers coupled with increasing number of car ownership came as a boon for on-demand driver solution providers. According to an industry estimate, the average level of ownership will increase to 35 cars per 1,000 people by 2025.