Funding Alert

Namma Yatri Secures $11 Million in Pre-Series A Funding to Enhance Public Transportation

• ByStartupStory     |    July 17, 2024

Moving Tech Innovations Ltd, the company behind the ride-hailing app Namma Yatri, has successfully raised $11 million (approximately Rs 92 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round. The round was led by Blume Ventures and Antler, with participation from Google and other investors. The funds will be utilized to advance technology, research and development, and product innovations aimed at creating an integrated, fully digitized, and open public transportation system.

“With our people-first approach, our goal is to build empathetic products and tech that are 10x better. By collaborating with Samaaj (Community), Sarkar (Government), and Bazaar (Business), we aspire to create an impact similar to UPI in India and Linux worldwide,” stated Magizhan Selvan and Shan M S, Co-founders of Moving Tech.

Moving Tech, originally launched as a project under payment infrastructure company Juspay, was spun off as an independent entity earlier this year. In April, Namma Yatri piloted its taxi service in Bengaluru, maintaining the same revenue model for both its taxi-hailing and auto-hailing services. The app expanded its auto-booking services to Chennai earlier this year, adding 10,000 drivers to its platform. In January, it also launched services in New Delhi with another 10,000 drivers, improving first and last-mile connectivity with metro services.

“Moving Tech is at the forefront of transforming mobility with a fresh and innovative model. We were amazed by the simplicity of what the tech and a robust product can do to solve mass mobility,” said Karthik Reddy, Partner at Blume Ventures.

The company began its journey in 2020 with the open mobility app Yatri, developed on the BECKN/ONDC protocol. Namma Yatri was introduced in Bengaluru in 2022, and all its apps operate under an open-source model, integrated into the ONDC Network. BECKN is an open-source protocol designed to create a decentralized digital commerce network, and ONDC is an Indian government initiative to democratize digital commerce.

Namma Yatri’s ride-hailing services are now operational in eight cities and towns, having facilitated 46 million trips and generated $7 billion in earnings for drivers. The company boasts a user base of 7 million and a network of 400,000 drivers.

“Namma Yatri’s focus on Digital Public Infrastructure is pioneering. They are building the mobility of the future—one that is inclusive, efficient, and sustainable,” noted Fady Abdel-Nour and Nitin Sharma, Partners at Antler.

Moneycontrol was the first to report about Namma Yatri’s funding.

Follow Startup Story