India's Namma Yatri plans to enter the US market: Report

Bengaluru-based ride-hailing platform Namma Yatri is reportedly in the early stages of exploring expansion into the US market.

According to a Moneycontrol report, the company is in talks with multiple unions in the United States, aiming to carve out a niche for itself in a space dominated by giants like Uber and Lyft. 

Juspay to back the expansion

The report further said that Juspay, which spun off Namma Yatri into a separate business in April this year, will support the company’s expansion into the US market.

Juspay recently secured 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, stating, “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 that the US market is also dominated by two players, Uber and Lyft.

"The condition of drivers in the US is no different from that in India. Companies cannot expand into a new market without reducing fares, and if the fares get lower, then the driver does not make any money. Companies, which enter with enormous capital outlay to a market also have to promise a rate of return to the investors," Mathew told the publication.

If Namma Yatri enters the US market, the company will be competing 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.

Current focus remains on the Indian market

While the talks of US expansion are ongoing, Namma Yatri's primary focus continues to be on expanding its footprint within India. 

Presently, it 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 it raised $11 million (approximately Rs 91 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round led by Blume Ventures and Antler, with participation from Sundar Pichai-led tech giant Google and other investors.