DriveU, a leading on-demand driver aggregator for private car owners, has launched its outstation service. Now, customers can hire a chauffeur for multi-day intercity travels for weekend getaways or vacations, besides for intra-city commutes.
The Bengaluru startup, which began operations in July last year, has now over 350 drivers in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi NCR, and is aiming at increasing the number to over 1,000 before the end of this year.
“We have had a phenomenal growth,” said CEO Rahm Shastry, during an interaction with The Hindu . “We have done over 30,000 trips for over 10,000 customers since inception, with more than 60 per cent of customers being women.”
The company recently raised seed investment of $1 million led by Unitus Seed Fund and some angel investors. The fund will be utilised to expand to new markets, said Mr. Shastry.
Growing demand
The market for on-hire chauffeurs seems to growing with a few players in the field, and startups like DriveU reporting increasing demand.
There could be many reasons why people who own cars are preferring to hire a chauffeur for a few hours: may be the chaotic, painfully slow traffic, or they have to work on laptop while on their way to office, or they have had one too many, and it’s simply not safe to drive.
Drivers on hire has been an unorganised sector. Some taxi companies provide a chauffeur on hire on select basis and depending on availability. There are also a new crop of on-demand home-service companies, some of whom also provide drivers on demand. While the new driver-aggregator market takes shape, DriveU competes with players like DriversKart, Driver Bulao, Ezidrive, and Zimmber.
Strict quality norms
All the drivers registered with DriveU have to take a fresh driving test to ensure that their skills are up to the mark. “We also verify their background. They are provided a uniform and given a crash course in etiquette, all at our expense,” Mr. Shastry said.
The customer calls for a driver using the app, which is available on Android, iOS and the web, in a way similar to hailing an Uber or an Ola taxi. The request goes to the person nearest to the spot. The customer will be able to not only track the uniformed chauffeur as he arrives on a two-wheeler, along with seat covers and floor mats, but also view his photo and contact details.
The founders, Rahm Shastry, Ashok Shastry and Amulmeet Singh Chadha, are passionate animal lovers, and they donate 1% of their revenue to worthy animal causes; and the first such initiative was with Blue Cross of India during the Chennai floods. DriveU has also partnered with Bengaluru Traffic Police to promote safe driving across the city.
