On-demand chauffeur provider DriveU acquires CallAtHome to ride into Gurgaon

Bangalore-based DriveU, a startup that connects chauffeurs with private car owners over a mobile marketplace, has acquired Gurgaon-based on-demand driver provider CallAtHome.

When contacted, the DriveU spokesperson told Techcircle.in that it was an all-cash deal but declined to reveal the deal value.

DriveU offers its services in Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi. With the acquisition of CallAtHome, it will now launch its services in Gurgaon. Post the acquisition, DriveU's partner-drivers across India stands at 500 from the earlier number of 350. The startup hopes to take this number to 1000 by the end of this year.

"Gurgaon has an abundance of Fortune 500 companies and shopping malls. It has the third highest per capita income in the country. All this makes Gurgaon the next logical destination for DriveU," said Ramprasad Rahm Shastry, co-founder and CEO, DriveU, in a statement.

"We were impressed with the customer feedback CallAtHome has received for their driver service," said Shastry.

Started in July 2015 by Alok Inamdar, Satyendra Singh and Anubhav Sood, CallAtHome – operated by ANS Technologies Pvt. Ltd— claims to have completed 7,000 trips since inception.

"We are handing over our customers and drivers to a worthy inheritor in DriveU," said Alok Inamdar, co-founder and CEO, CallAtHome.

DriveU, run by Humble Mobile Solutions Pvt. Ltd, was founded in July 2015 by Ramprasad Rahm Shastry, Ashok Shastry and Amulmeet Singh. Ramprasad Shastry was the first angel investor at TaxiForSure, and has successfully founded, and exited several technology-based companies. Ashok Shastry is a California State University alumnus. Prior to DriveU, he worked at TaxiForSure in marketing and operational roles. Singh, chief product officer at DriveU, has earlier worked with FreeCharge, Redbus and ZipDial.

In March this year, DriveU secured an undisclosed amount in investment from Unitus Seed Fund.

The DriveU booking platform is available on web as well as on Android and iOS platforms. The drivers charge a flat rate of Rs 99 per hour along with applicable service tax charges. The firm claims that the absence of surge pricing is the hallmark of its pricing strategy. As on May, DriveU claims to have served over 30,000 trips to over 10,000 customers, of which over 60 per cent are women.

DriveU competes with Mumbai-headquartered Zimmber, Chennai based DriversKart and Delhi-based Driver Bulao in this space.