Brand Capital invests $22m in India's Meru
Brand Capital has invested INR1.5 billion ($22.2 million) in Indian app-based taxi service provider Meru Cab.
The investment represents the first close of a $100 million round sought by the company after receiving a $50 million commitment last year from India Value Fund Advisors, which has invested around $75 million in Meru since 2006. The capital is expected to be used for advertising initiatives and the establishment of incentives to expand the company's existing customer base of about 4.5 million users.
"Meru's profitable and growing business, strong technology and analytics driven platform complemented by an experienced management team were strong and attractive determinants to partner with the company in this high-growth, consumer-facing industry," said Shrenik Khasgiwala, a director at Brand, according to Livement. "This partnership will help accelerate the process of creating the requisite brand positioning as well as awareness for customers who are present across mediums/platforms like print, OOH [out of home], digital, social media, etcetera."
Established in 2007, Meru is the oldest of India's app-based taxi companies. It operates across 23 cities with a fleet of about 20,000 vehicles. Products include specialized services for reduced fare options, carpooling, women-only chauffeuring and special needs passengers, as well as a mobile app which is estimated to generate about 70% of bookings.
India's $1.2 billion organized taxi-hailing market is projected to value about $15 billion by 2022 as competition from operators such as Uber and Ola intensifies. Other financing traction on this front includes a $500 million Series F round for Ola and an unspecified investment by Tata Capital aimed at growing Uber's domestic market share beyond 35%.
Brand is an investment arm of The Times Group. It claims to have partnered with more than 850 domestic companies with a total investment value of $2.5 billion.
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