From instant pickup/delivery to hyperlocal discovery, Kolkata is moving fast. How? The city of joy is riding ‘Tygr’, an emerging transport platform, which has smartly connected needs of riders to easy-to-use app interface.

Tygr is an app-based multi transport service provider started by two techies, one of whom came back from the US and the other from Singapore, in 2012.

Dipanjan Purkayastha and Aditya Poddar shared a dream to bring some order to the transport jungle of their hometown. The dream bought two of them together and Tygr was born. The initial success has already put the duo on a global journey. Fuelling the growth is an endorsement from independent capital that has taken a business decision to join the Tygr Yatra.

“We had started as an app cab provider in the city with taxis, autos, bikes and ambulances on our platform. Today, we have grown to operate in four verticals – passengers, delivery, logistics and specialty. It addresses customer needs in all these sectors” said Dipanjan Purkayastha, Founder & Managing Director of Tygr.

Core elements

What makes Tygr different from other app based transport solution provider is that they don’t play aggregation game, rather they believe in the strategic alignment, which helps them leverage the existing ecosystem and reach out to riders, drivers, transporters and service providers in the remotest corner of the country. So for booking a truck to carry cargo to Kashmir from Kolkata, you can just click the Tygr app, and similarly if you want your office documents, which you left behind at home, to be delivered to you in your office at the earliest you can trust the Tygr.

From packing and moving your goods inter-state to providing an ambulance to the hospital, Tygr aims to be the one-stop solution for all kind of transporting business. Unlike Uber or Ola, Tygr does not incentivise drivers to bring them on board; rather it lets the local franchises do that for them.

The business model, as Purkayastha articulates, is robust. “We onboard local franchises in the transport sector to help expand our operations. We do not have operations’ teams in different cities as that only add to the capital expenditure and incurs low efficiency. Instead, we onboard a regional franchise who in turn will have a cluster of local franchises to get in touch with the local vehicle owners and onboard them”.

Convenient payment

In return, Tygr allows them to use the Tygr app and charge the franchises a licensing fee. The vehicle owners are e-wallet enabled and provided with Smart phones and credit card swiping machines. The revenues these drivers of taxis, autos and bikes make are their own but in the logistics and speciality verticals, revenues are shared. Tygr takes 2-4 per cent of the deal made.

As a start-up, Tygr was selected for Innotrek 2016, a Nasscom and government of India programme where 30 start-ups from across the country are chosen and taken to Silicon Valley for mentoring. This turned out to be a great learning experience for them.

Future rides

The duo is planning to expand their franchise-based model to Southeast Asia, European Union and Canada. “We are in advanced discussions with a franchise type in Singapore, we are also talking to launch in Greece and EU. We are in touch with London Taxi Association for an entry into London and Cardiff,” said Purkayastha adding that Tygr is running pilots for its limousine services in Canada.

The company plans to launch an auto service in Mumbai and taxi services in Mississauga in Canada, Budapest and Barcelona.

Tygr recently bagged funding since the plan found merit. The Venture Capital (VC) funding of $3 million from lead investor Franchise India Holding Ltd and a group of other fellow investors has just come as a boost for the start-up.