Under the Radar: Carpool app Ryde’s Founder and Chairman Terence Zou on the firm’s NYSE IPO and concerns over profitability

The Evening Runway with Hongbin Jeong, Roshan Gidwani and Chua Tian Tian

It’s all about your day-to-day commute today as we speak to the first carpool app developed in Singapore.

Founded in September 2014, Ryde leverages technology to facilitate the movement of people and goods by providing on-demand and scheduled carpooling and ride-hailing services.

While the firm has its origins as a carpool app, it has since expanded to provide a full suite of mobility and delivery options , and even established extended product services such as e-payments, taxi bookings and insurance purchases.

Ryde’s services are currently available in Singapore, though the firm has a footprint in other regional markets such as Malaysia, Hong Kong and Australia.

But why are we talking about Ryde you might ask? Well the firm made history in March this year by becoming the first Singaporean ride-hailing startup to debut on the New York Stock Exchange.

The firm has said then that it plans to use the proceeds to expand globally and improve its technology infrastructure.

But what is of concern here is that the listing comes at a time when Ryde registered a net loss of S$4.96 million on S$8.8 million of revenues in 2022, per its IPO prospectus. Loss for the six months ended June 2023 also came in at close to S$4 million.

So is this the right time for Ryde to double down on capital expenditures and capture market share? Is a flush in investors’ and in particular institutional investors’ money the key to help the firm lay the groundwork towards profitability?

On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Terence Zou, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ryde Group Ltd.

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