Indrive Has Big Plans To Become A Global ‘super App’ Where Others Have Failed

InDrive, known for its bidding-based ride-hailing model crossed Asia and Latin America, is rolling retired a “super-app” strategy aimed astatine frontier markets — expanding beyond cabs to present regular essentials to its users.

Beginning pinch market deliveries successful Kazakhstan, InDrive plans to grow into aggregate verticals complete nan adjacent 12 months crossed its apical markets, including Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Pakistan, Peru, and Mexico. The displacement comes connected nan heels of much than 360 cardinal app downloads and 6.5 cardinal transactions globally, cementing its position arsenic nan world’s 2nd most-downloaded ride-hailing app, down Uber, since 2022.

“If customers usage you much frequently, then, of course, they enactment longer, they’re much valuable successful nan ecosystem, and they’re conscionable much loyal overall,” said Andries Smit, main maturation business serviceman astatine InDrive, successful an exclusive interview.

InDrive chose market transportation arsenic its first description move aft seeing accelerated maturation successful its transportation conception — pinch complete 41 cardinal orders completed worldwide successful 2024 and much than 14 cardinal successful Q2 2025 unsocial — making it 1 of nan fastest-scaling categories successful nan company’s portfolio.

The Mountain View, California-based institution has launched its market transportation work successful Kazakhstan, offering complete 5,000 products pinch a 15-minute transportation promise. Early pilots successful nan Central Asian state yielded a nett promoter people of 83% — signaling precocious customer restitution — and an mean of 5 market orders per personification per month, nan institution said.

Smit told TechCrunch that InDrive is utilizing a acheronian shop exemplary for market deliveries successful Kazakhstan, pinch astir items focused connected ready-to-eat meals and astir 10% consisting of caller products — portion of a strategy to boost customer retention. He added that nan exemplary will alteration successful different regions, wherever nan institution is unfastened to partnering locally, peculiarly successful markets pinch a dense web of mom-and-pop stores.

Without sharing specifics, Smit said that nan institution has added 30% much acheronian stores successful nan state since August.

Why is Kazakhstan nan first market?

InDrive presently operates successful 982 cities crossed 48 countries globally and leads successful 8 of them. But past why has it picked Kazakhstan arsenic nan first marketplace for its super-app move?

Smit told TechCrunch that nan institution decided to do truthful aft seeing a “huge uptick” successful consumers going integer successful nan country, which is nan largest system crossed Central Asia. InDrive besides has its largest headcount successful Kazakhstan, serving arsenic a cardinal hub for its R&D and operations.

InDrive did not disclose circumstantial maturation metrics for its operations successful Kazakhstan. However, a caller study by Dealroom, published successful collaboration pinch nan government-backed tech parkland Astana Hub, noted that nan institution saw a 44% maturation successful nan state complete nan past 12 months.

The study besides weighted Kazakhstan’s tech ecosystem astatine $26 cardinal — an 18-fold jump since 2019 — suggesting a crisp emergence successful section startup formation, funding, and integer services.

Image Credits:Dealroom

Kazakhstan already has market transportation apps to fulfill immoderate of nan demand. Nonetheless, InDrive wants to triumph nan marketplace predominantly pinch affordable pricing — aiming to beryllium nan Aldi of online groceries.

“There is entree and inequality, and moreover entree issues pinch immoderate of nan groceries,” said Smit. “Some of our cost-conscious consumers extremity up not buying from nan correct places aliases not buying nan correct goods, and they admit that, but they consciousness they person nary different choice.”

InDrive’s super-app: a differentiator aliases déjà vu

Many companies person tried to win pinch ace apps. While some, for illustration WeChat and Gojek, person recovered success, others — including Meta — person struggled to summation traction.

Smit, who worked pinch WeChat successful his erstwhile domiciled successful 2016, knowledgeable really nan integrated acquisition connected nan Chinese app worked well. He told TechCrunch that, by leveraging his expertise and utilizing AI capabilities, InDrive plans to make its super-app strategy successful. The AI integration would thief bring personalization to users and make services accessible to group pinch disabilities and those pinch little literacy, he said.

InDrive’s Grocery Delivery work successful KazakhstanImage Credits:InDrive

In November 2023, InDrive announced a task and merger and acquisition limb to invest up to $100 million complete nan adjacent fewer years. Smit told TechCrunch that of that venture, astir 30% has already been deployed connected nan super-app strategy.

The institution invested successful Pakistan’s market startup, Krave Mart, successful December arsenic portion of that venture. However, location is nary actual timeline connected erstwhile InDrive’s app will connection market deliveries to users successful Pakistan.

InDrive’s arch-rival Uber has besides expanded its work portfolio, adding verticals for illustration nutrient transportation done Uber Eats successful prime markets. Smit said InDrive targets a different customer conception — 1 that Uber typically doesn’t service — though location is immoderate overlap successful definite regions.

“By and large, we really support and play into a cost-conscious consumer,” he said.

India arsenic a “puzzle” market

In summation to frontier markets including Kazakhstan, InDrive has been operating successful India for immoderate time, competing pinch Uber arsenic good arsenic homegrown players specified arsenic Ola and Rapido. However, nan institution has not picked up successful nan South Asian nation. Uber moreover piloted a type of InDrive’s bidding exemplary successful India, attempting to replicate nan approach.

Data from Appfigures exclusively shared pinch TechCrunch shows that InDrive saw 1.07 cardinal less downloads year-to-date compared to nan aforesaid play successful 2024 — a 22.6% decline. In contrast, Uber added 8.02 cardinal downloads, up 60.6%, while Ola gained 1.55 million, a 13.2% increase. Rapido emerged arsenic nan fastest-growing player, pinch 14.9 cardinal further downloads — an 80.9% surge.

“India is simply a puzzle for us,” Smit told TechCrunch. “India is still growing, and we are focused… we’ve decided to attraction very quickly connected cardinal cities wherever we really deliberation we want to run strongly.”

Image Credits:Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch

The institution is testing different models, particularly successful nan freight business, though it is known for allowing riders to haggle pinch drivers. These see different costs mechanisms for drivers to get paid regular and moreover spell pinch a circumstantial return rate, Smit said.

InDrive faced early challenges and saw constricted occurrence astatine first — moreover successful markets for illustration Pakistan, wherever it later became nan starring ride-hailing level pursuing Uber’s exit.

“We’ve had sleeper markets wherever nan markets benignant of drifted, and past for immoderate case, possibly 1 of nan competitors falters,” Smit said.

More than a twelve riders and drivers successful India told TechCrunch that information concerns were a cardinal logic they nary longer for illustration utilizing InDrive. Some drivers said nan app’s bidding exemplary had been exploited by riders — and, successful immoderate cases, moreover by chap drivers posing arsenic riders to hassle their peers by aggressively haggling.

Smit said that nan institution prioritizes information and customer service.

“Yes, we request to do a batch much successful talking to this information cognition and successful school and educating our drivers and passengers,” he said.

Next verticals successful plans

InDrive plans to grow its super-app offering by launching caller services tailored to section marketplace needs. Smit told TechCrunch that these could see financial services. One illustration is already unrecorded successful markets including Brazil and Mexico, wherever drivers tin access mini loans done nan ride-hailing app. The institution is exploring ways to widen this to passengers — and perchance to mini businesses progressive successful deliveries, nan executive added.

The institution besides plans to research a work that enables micro-mobility, allowing its consumers to link pinch section businesses and nationalist proscription services.

“We want to beryllium city-specific, and it could beryllium a bouquet of different services,” Smit said. “We want to seizure nan cardinal verticals that we person capacity for, that we cognize and are very adjacent to our core… But if we person nary acquisition successful running, for those kinds of services, we will decidedly conscionable partner pinch nan correct player.”