inDrive launches $100 million fund for startups

Ride hailing company, inDrive, has announced the launch of a new venture arm with the goal of investing up to $100 million in promising startups in emerging markets over the next few years.

Andries Smit, vice president, new ventures, inDrive, said in a statement on Monday that the venture will focus on investing in firms that demonstrate rapid growth and positive community impact.

The investment criteria include organizations that challenge injustice, improve the lives of individuals and communities, and local market startups with potential for global expansion.

He said the move would help strengthen inDrive’s commitment to challenge injustice by helping successful, but overlooked startups.

According to him, these companies will gain a competitive edge by tapping inDrive’s global multimillion customer base across 45+ markets, and access to the company’s go-to-market know-how and technology.

“Once an underdog and now a global company, inDrive is certainly an investor to watch as the team has achieved rapid global growth while remaining committed to its mission of challenging injustice,” he said.

“The company is uniquely positioned to do this, leveraging its presence and fast growth in these emerging markets that have much weaker access to capital markets than developed countries.

“I’m thrilled to apply my own venture building and investing experience to help inDrive transform the lives of innovative founders hungry to scale up their successful businesses that contribute to a better world,” he said.

High-growth startups

The launch comes four months after InDrive launched its first U.S. market in South Florida.

The president, inDrive, Mark Loughran, said the mission at the heart of new ventures is to find overlooked, high-growth startups that might be operating outside of traditional innovation hub regions, and support their development to increase their positive impact.

Loughran said the newly appointed vice president, Andries Smit, had a unique blend of corporate and venture-building experience.

This, he said, made him a perfect fit to lead new ventures, adding that he remained confident that the energy and experience he brought would help us surpass inDrive’s investment goals.