Tygr app expands operations to Mumbai to compete with Ola, Uber

After Kolkata, Indore, and Ranchi, Tygr – a startup omni-transport app, forays into Mumbai with the first initial 5,000 cabs already onboard.

The app started its initial operations in April, 2016 when the first fleets of cabs were inducted on the platform for Kolkata. With the company expanding its presence in other cities (Indore, Bangalore, Ranchi and Raipur) at the initial beta phase, today it has officially launched its App for Mumbai with a fleet of 5,000 cabs on board.

Tygr app is the brainchild of founder and CEO, Aditya Poddar who in the past has been associated with Singapore Business Federation, Business Leaders Alumni Club, and TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs). The company founded in 2015, had been ranked amongst the Top 500 SMEs in Singapore and has been recognised by NASSCOM along with backed by Facebook through FbStart.

As per company claims 10,000 cabs are already associated with the App in India. As per Poddar, “In the last one month we have seen an average of 100-150 rides for the cabs on board. While it is growing at a good pace given our unique business model, we aim to have around 3,000-4,000 cabs in each cities in this financial year.”

The company is optimist on its business model, whereby the company instead of investing in getting new taxis and drivers on road, works with its franchises. The franchise gets a percentage of the revenue for inducting the existing cabs on board, wherein the cab pays a fee of Rs 500 per month for registering themselves on the app. While franchise partners take care of induction and verification of drivers, the cab driver does not lose out on a single rupee for the trips he undertakes.

Tygr identifies itself as an omni-platform logistics operator that offers a wide spectrum of logistics solutions including cabs, auto-rickshaws, shuttle vans, buses, and even luxury vehicles such as limousines. As part of its launch, the platform has initially rolled out its cab-based services in Mumbai, and will eventually roll out additional services for ambulance, delivery and intercity logistics.

“Currently, the other cab-aggregators are giving out huge subsidies and incentives to the customer while also charging a percentage on each trip from the cab drivers. This is not sustainable in the long-run. We don’t want to follow the same path. We are looking for a profitable and sustainable way,” said, Poddar.

Apart from the B2C model, the company is also looking at being the multi-modal for transportation needs, Tygr is in advanced talks with transportation and logistics service providers for being part of the App, wherein with a different revenue sharing model is being planned out.

For transparency the company does not intermediate payments and customers can pay directly as per their preferred method, such as meter, fixed rate, cards, and even their negotiated price. The vehicles also come fully equipped with a range of cashless payment options and any non-TYGR passenger can also download the application and make cashless payments to a TYGR-affiliate while en route to his or her destination. The platform, moreover, provides exact fair estimates which remain constant round the clock, throughout the year.

Tygr also aims to launch its services in Europe, Canada and South East Asia within a period of 12 months.

Your app has a feature for bike-hailing services, is this service introduced in any other city and will it be introduced in Mumbai?

Yes, we are planning to introduce this service but we are awaiting the necessary clearance and will abide by the law of the land. Many people are sceptical about this service, but in many developed countries this service has already been introduced and the it actually helps reduce the burden on traffic as well provides users a quicker alternative to reach their destination with ease. We have already started this in Kolkata and will launch this service in Indore. We look at recruiting professional people who will be responsible for ferrying passengers and will provide the necessary safety gears to them.

You spoke about being a B2C model as well as B2B model. What is your core focus and how do you plan to introduce the B2B model? How do you see the revenue for your B2B model?

The business for cab-aggregation in India is estimated around $9 billion (Rs 56,853 crore), while the transportation and logistics industry is $150 billion (Rs 947,550 crore) so there is a huge scope for the B2B model. As most of the transportation services is unorganised and there is less professionalism and awareness for both the service provider and users, we look at filling the void by providing solution vis-a-vis the Tygr app. The revenue sharing will be different we are in advanced discussions with the service providers and hopefully we will start this by September, 2017.

How do you plan to compete with well-established players like Ola, Uber, Meru, among others in the cab-aggregator business?

Unlike the existing cab-aggregators, we do not put any additional surcharge to the end-user and nor we take any percentage from the cabs that are registered on our platform. The nominal monthly fee of Rs 500 (average) is charged from the cab driver as a result the cab driver gets more business and is able to improve his income. While we merely act as a bridge between the existing infrastructure (cabs, autos, etc) and the end user.

Do you have tie-ups with any OEMs and are you looking at coming out with electric vehicles on board?

Currently, we are in a very nascent stage of our operations. Yes, we have received interest from OEMs but nothing has been materialised as of yet and even though we are keen on having cleaner and efficient vehicles on board, it is too early for us to think of moving in that direction.

How do you plan to expand and induct more cabs?

We started our operations with our own funds, and after alot of learning we revamped our business model. I think for us to foray into a new market and get cabs on board is difficult in compared to someone who already is part of the market. We have the Franchise model, where-in the franchisee is in charge of getting the cabs to register with us for which he gets part of our profits.

How many franchises you have in India and what is your current total strength?

We have around 10 franchises in India in 3 cities (Kolkata, Raipur and Ranchi) that gives us strength of around 10,000 cabs as of now. We aim to expand our services to 50 cities by end of FY 2017-18. In Mumbai we have one major franchisee under which there are three others as most of this people are part of the industry it is easier for them to get more service providers on board, we rely on their expertise for growth.

With dual operations - B2C and B2B, how do you prioritise your focus?

For us serving the transportation need is the single focus, it could be the consumers B2C needs or B2B needs we want to be there when a person wants to either travel from one point to another or wants his goods transported from one point to another. While the B2C model will help us in our branding and marketing, the core focus will be to provide organised services in the transportation needs.