Taxi service raised $150 million and plans to expand in new markets

InDrive, the California-based international ridesharing app that operates in more than 47 different countries, has just raised $150 million. Rather than making costly rounds by giving away ownership rights, or, alternatively, going public and receiving a monetary punishment for every public appearance, the company chose an alternative way. 

Given the challenging market conditions, Dmitri Sedov, the Chief Financial Officer of InDrive, noted that the company decided to raise funds by using an unusual debt instrument that links repayment to the company’s performance. Until last year, when he joined the startup, Sedov formerly served as the head of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Russian unit.

It certainly looks like Sedov might be on the right path. While tech giants left and right are laying off employees, cutting payrolls and freezing R&D, InDrive, on the other hand, increased gross revenue 88% in 2022 and expects to become cash flow positive this year. The chief aim for the company, according to Sedov, is to improve the profitability of the company, without slowing its growth. 

Now based in California, the company was initially founded in the Siberian city of Yakutsk. The majority (approximately 60%) of InDrive’s business is focused in Latin America, with Mexico, Kazakhstan, Brazil, Colombia and Egypt constituting its biggest markets.