Ride ordering platform Uber invested approximately Rs 2bn ($30m) in India-based vehicle leasing service operator Xchange Leasing India between June and September this year, LiveMint reported today.
Xchange was launched as a car leasing offshoot of Uber in the US in July 2015 and now operates in India as a separate company named Xchange Leasing India Pvt Ltd. It leases vehicles to Uber drivers through partnerships with major car manufacturers and also offers financing options.
Although Xchange is officially a separate entity, Joshua James Waldron, Uber’s director of financial reporting, is a board member, as is Mohammad Akbar Khan, who also serves as a director for Uber India Systems.
The funding was provided by Uber and its Netherlands-based subsidiary Mieten, and follows Rs 430m in funding supplied by the US-headquartered company between January and March 2016.
The funding was provided as part of an investment drive for Uber in India, with the company now diverting a healthy portion of the $1bn it had planned to put into its China operations into India following the acquisition of Uber China by local rival Didi Chuxing.