By Adedapo Adesanya
Global mobility and urban services platform, inDrive, has launched a new venture and merger and acquisition (M&A) arm to invest up to $100 million in promising startups.
This was disclosed in a statement seen by Business Post on Thursday.
The firm added that the new subsidiary would be headed by a seasoned entrepreneur and investment professional, Mr Andries Smit, who joins inDrive as Vice President of New Ventures.
New Ventures Investments, as the new arm is called, will focus on rapid growth and reduce positive community impact with investments spread on companies tackling injustice and improving the lives of individuals and communities.
Other criteria will be startups with potential for global expansion, post-seed/pre-Series A companies with proven product market fit, rapid organic growth, healthy economics and cash flow.
inDrive’s New Ventures unit is dedicated to help investee and acquired companies scale quickly across inDrive’s platform, the statement said.
These companies are set to gain a competitive edge by tapping inDrive’s global multi-million customer base across 45+ markets, access to the company’s go-to-market know-how and technology.
Speaking on this new development, Mr Smit, Vice President of New Ventures at inDrive, said, “Once an underdog and now a global company, inDrive is certainly an investor to watch – the team has achieved rapid global growth while remaining committed to its mission of challenging injustice. By investing in emerging companies innovating to improve people’s lives, inDrive further strengthens its commitment to challenge injustice by helping successful, but overlooked startups.
“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.”
Adding his input, Mr Mark Loughran, President of inDrive, disclosed that, “The mission at the heart of New Ventures is to find overlooked, high-growth startups that may be operating outside of traditional innovation hub regions, and support their development to increase their positive impact.
“Andries has a unique blend of corporate and venture building experience that makes him a perfect fit to lead New Ventures, and we are confident the energy and experience he brings will help us surpass our investment goals.”