Uber is leaving a vacuum in Southeast Asia, can Ryde fill the gap?

The Singaporean carpooling startup Ryde announced today it will be launching a private-hire service called RydeX, according to Channel News Asia.

The move should receive increased attention as it was made just days after Grab purchased Uber’s Southeast Asia assets in the biggest story of 2018 so far.

Drivers can already sign up for the service and according to the article the service has over 55,000 drivers and 300,000 riders per day.

Before this latest update, Ryde had operated much like GrabHitch or UberPOOL except it relied heavily on personally-owned vehicles. The service matches riders with people heading in the same direction.

Now, RydeX will look a lot more like Uber in the sense that a user can book a ride from a professional driver without the car pooling feature.

As it rolls out the feature, Ryde will be lowering its sales commission to 10 per cent.

“We hope to provide commuters a cheaper alternative to get around and drivers a way to make a decent living. Ultimately, our mission is to make a positive social impact in people’s lives,” Ryde CEO Terrence Zhou told Channel News Asia.

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In about ten days, Uber users will no longer be able to use the service. It will be worth watching if they all migrate over to Grab, or if they consider alternatives like Ryde or using ‘old-school’ methods to get around Singapore.

In January 2016, Ryde expanded to Hong Kong.

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