We are proud to announce our recent investment in Drife, a decentralized ride-hailing platform that aims to empower both drivers and riders within communities.
Drife is the first platform to apply the full power of decentralized blockchain technology to the ride-hailing economy to make it more efficient and equal for all. Here’s why we invested.
The Ride-Hailing Industry Is Ready for Disruption
Over the last decade, the ride-hailing industry has emerged as a predominant part of the local transportation market in countries and cities worldwide. This has been made possible with rapid technological advancements that have allowed app-based companies such as Uber and Lyft (to name a few) to provide new and more convenient opportunities for drivers and consumers almost overnight.
Such platforms have no doubt revolutionized the world and also the way people consume transport solutions. They created millions of jobs for individuals who could now work as independent drivers and on their own timetables, which was all initially very positive for this new industry.
However, such rapid development over a short period has created several significant problems. Among them has been passenger safety, where several sexual harassment claims have been made against Uber drivers. On the flip side, similar claims by female Uber drivers have all raised concerns.
Another big problem is the question of pay. According to a 2020 report from the JPMorgan Chase Institute, Uber drivers make 53% less than they did four years before, which has paved the way for Uber as the centralized middle man to enjoy higher profit margins while at the same time extorting its drivers on the ground. Moreover, drivers of such platforms can not set their own rates and must comply with the standardized fee structures, making them feel short-changed and helpless.
Drife will Create more Equality, Efficiency and Trust in the Ride-Hailing Industry.
Drife is a decentralized ride-hailing platform that aims to provide a much-needed solution to many of the sector’s current problems.
For drivers, the platform will effectively cut out the middleman to allow drivers to make 100% of the profits accumulated through rider fees and also will enable them to set their own fares at the same time. This means there will be no generic overheads and no standardized surge pricing, which will create more flexibility and sustainability in this economy in the future.
Taking this approach will have many benefits for the industry, including its overall safety. Drife drivers will be empowered to make real profits and, as a result, will be more motivated and incentivized to provide a better service to riders who will be able to selectively choose them based on their transparent fees and ratings. This will create more loyalty, freedom, and autonomy in the industry, making such values a new standard rather than something to aspire towards. Moreover, the replacing of legacy systems and centralized record-keeping infrastructures with a system based on a tamper-proof distributed ledger will reduce costs.
The DRF Token
Payments on Drife will be settled using the DRF token, the company’s native utility token. In addition to payment settlement DRF will give users and holders access to loyalty rewards and staking functions on the Drife platform by presenting gamified loyalty, rewards, and incentives alongside staking opportunities for acquiring Franchise NFTs or FNFTs, which provide the franchisee rights to use the name and system of Drife. Holders of DRF will also be able to participate in governance activities and play a part in modeling the future of the Drife platform and its values.
Why We Invested?
Drife’s vision is one of great importance for the ride-hailing industry in order to improve it and make it an equal marketplace for drivers and riders alike. Platforms such as Uber, Lyft, and Grab, to name a few, have demonstrated the value and global reach of ride-hailing; however, they have fallen short in providing a sustainable model that ensures equality, protection, and loyalty across their userbases.
Creating a better version of what currently exists in the ride-hailing space is what Drife is all about, and its model could disrupt this industry, on the whole, to provide a newer, cleaner, and more attractive solution overall. The DApp is currently being rolled out in Bangalore, India, a bustling city with a population of 8.4 million people who are accustomed to private taxis and Uber ride-hailing services. There are no limits to what it could achieve as a global alternative for such systems if it succeeds here. We are working with the team closely to make this a reality.
Get ready for its IDO launch on Apollo-X
About Drife
DRIFE is a decentralized ride-hailing platform powered by blockchain with the intent of empowering both, the drivers and commuters
About Master Ventures
Master Ventures is a blockchain-focused venture studio helping to build the next generation of blockchain-based Web 3.0 system innovations within the crypto industry. Launched in 2018 by Founder and CEO Kyle Chassé, the company’s ethos can best be summarized in the acronym #BeBOLD: Benevolent, Open, Love, Decentralized.
Master Ventures co-creates with entrepreneurs and businesses worldwide to turn the best ideas into innovative and disruptive products. They do this by investing as strategic partners through offering advisory services to the projects they believe in. To date, Master Ventures has invested in over 40 crypto projects, including the likes of Kraken, Coinbase, Bitfinex, Reef, DAO Maker, Mantra DAO, Thorchain, and Elrond.
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