Uber plans to increase investments in India, step up technological push
BENGALURU: Global cab-hailing giant Uber Technologies Inc. is looking to step up investments in India, build out more India-specific and global innovations through its presence in the country, and rapidly scale up growth and its engineering team in the country, even as it looks to move on from recent controversies.
In an interview, Daniel Graf, Uber’s global head of product, indicated that India was among the company’s most significant markets globally and that it would do whatever it takes to succeed in the rapidly growing internet economy.
For US-based Uber, India became the most important international market after it sold its China business to local rival Didi Chuxing last August.
“What’s key for us is that we have a long-term sustainable business here. In many of our markets, we are actually profitable and we know that the fundamentals of our business are very healthy. In some of our markets where we are still in hypergrowth mode, we put in extra investments to get to a place where we’re in a sustainable phase. In India, we are investing. We are investing with technology, with promotions, etc.,” said Graf, a former top executive at Google who joined Uber in 2015.
“For us markets like India, Brazil, Indonesia, the Philippines, etc. are massively growing markets. We’re putting in a lot of engineering resources in India— we have 150 engineers here in Bangalore and in Hyderabad. The commitment to India as a technology centre is super important. We’re developing global solutions here in India in Hyderabad and Bengaluru, we’re going to continue to invest and grow these teams. No question about it.”
He conceded that Uber had been affected by recent controversies, which have proved to be a major distraction for the world’s most valuable internet startup, but added that the company had put most of its recent struggles behind it.
Uber ousted its CEO Travis Kalanick—whose departure was one of the most significant events in the startup world in the past decade—and named Dara Khosrowshahi in his place in August this year.
“If I would say (the recent controversies) haven’t impacted us, that wouldn’t be true. Of course, it impacts us. What I can say is that with Dara on board, with the changes in place, we’ve changed in many ways. For example, the way we interact with driver partners, that’s a big change this year. When I look at what has happened, I would say it’s a new chapter, it’s moving forward and it’s learning from the past. Yes, mistakes have been made. Mistakes have been addressed and I think, not just from a business point of view, but also from a culture point of view, from a team point of view, we are a better set-up than before,” Graf said.
For Uber, succeeding in India has become one of its top priorities, given that it was forced to concede defeat in China.
However, that will not be easy, according to analysts, given that it is up against an extremely well-funded local rival in Ola.