Ryde secures investment, names new Chairman
29 Jan 2019|1,390 views
Local transportation start-up Ryde has secured an undisclosed sum from investment firm Nomad X and appointed the firm's Director as its Chairman. The money will be used to expand its operations, roll out new features, enhance its payment features and increase the technical expertise of its team, Ryde said yesterday.
Ryde's new Chairman Tan Suan Jin, who is the Director and Chief Investment Officer of Nomad X, told The Straits Times that discussions on the deal had started since the middle of last year.
"Ryde has always been very focused on building a good product for the users, so hopefully we can help it think strategically from the longer-term perspective (in terms of) how to grow this business, how to make it sustainable," said Mr. Tan. "We are committed to growing Ryde and helping it establish its space within the whole Singapore ecosystem quite firmly," he added.
Ryde Chief Executive Officer and Founder Terence Zou said the investment was part of normal fund-raising efforts in a start-up. He added that Mr. Tan's appointment as Chairman would enable Ryde to tap his experience. Mr. Tan has held senior positions in companies such as asset manager BlackRock and financial services firm Thirdrock Group.
The developments at Ryde come amid a backdrop of online complaints from drivers about delays in receiving their earnings, with a few drivers also speculating about cash flow problems at the start-up. A Ryde spokesman told ST that more than 100 drivers had been affected by delayed payments. The start-up has signed up about 15,000 private-hire drivers and about 35,000 carpool drivers.
But Mr. Zou said the delays were due to technical issues that occurred when Ryde was upgrading its system to enable an instant cash-out feature for drivers.
Work on the system started in November and was completed this month. Almost all the cases of delayed payments have been resolved, he added.
Said Mr. Tan, "It was not a business viability issue because business continued to run. If it wasn't viable, then we wouldn't have been involved as well."
Despite the presence of ride-hailing giants Grab and Go-Jek in Singapore, Ryde can still establish itself here, Mr. Tan said, adding, "I think there is room for a player like Ryde to exist."
Local transportation start-up Ryde has secured an undisclosed sum from investment firm Nomad X and appointed the firm's Director as its Chairman. The money will be used to expand its operations, roll out new features, enhance its payment features and increase the technical expertise of its team, Ryde said yesterday.
Ryde's new Chairman Tan Suan Jin, who is the Director and Chief Investment Officer of Nomad X, told The Straits Times that discussions on the deal had started since the middle of last year.
"Ryde has always been very focused on building a good product for the users, so hopefully we can help it think strategically from the longer-term perspective (in terms of) how to grow this business, how to make it sustainable," said Mr. Tan. "We are committed to growing Ryde and helping it establish its space within the whole Singapore ecosystem quite firmly," he added.
Ryde Chief Executive Officer and Founder Terence Zou said the investment was part of normal fund-raising efforts in a start-up. He added that Mr. Tan's appointment as Chairman would enable Ryde to tap his experience. Mr. Tan has held senior positions in companies such as asset manager BlackRock and financial services firm Thirdrock Group.
The developments at Ryde come amid a backdrop of online complaints from drivers about delays in receiving their earnings, with a few drivers also speculating about cash flow problems at the start-up. A Ryde spokesman told ST that more than 100 drivers had been affected by delayed payments. The start-up has signed up about 15,000 private-hire drivers and about 35,000 carpool drivers.
But Mr. Zou said the delays were due to technical issues that occurred when Ryde was upgrading its system to enable an instant cash-out feature for drivers.
Work on the system started in November and was completed this month. Almost all the cases of delayed payments have been resolved, he added.
Said Mr. Tan, "It was not a business viability issue because business continued to run. If it wasn't viable, then we wouldn't have been involved as well."
Despite the presence of ride-hailing giants Grab and Go-Jek in Singapore, Ryde can still establish itself here, Mr. Tan said, adding, "I think there is room for a player like Ryde to exist."
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