DRIFE, the world’s first decentralised ride-hailing platform, today announces Siddharth Bhatia as its new Chief Scientist. Having previously worked with Google Research, Amazon and Microsoft Research, Siddharth brings vast ‘big tech’ experience to help enhance the technology powering the DRIFE platform. This announcement follows DRIFE’s historic IDO/IEO launch that has set the project on a trajectory towards a $1 billion valuation in the near future.
Siddharth will be responsible for leading research and innovation for DRIFE, and will be instrumental in developing DRIFE’s visionary mobility blockchain. Siddharth stated: “I am inspired by DRIFE’s passion to create a more equitable environment for both drivers and passengers, and am excited to play a part in taking DRIFE through its next phase of growth.”
CTO and co-founder, Mudit Marda comments, “Hailing from academia, the technical skills Siddharth brings to the team in regard to his experience in machine learning, fraud detection, and distributed systems is unrivalled. At DRIFE, we want to bring onboard like-minded individuals who share the vision of generating a fairer and more decentralised ride-hailing platform driven by latest technology. Siddharth is a fantastic talent and we’re delighted to welcome him to the team.“
Siddharth has done his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the National University of Singapore. His research on real-time anomaly/fraud detection in a cybersecurity setting has been well appreciated and deployed by several companies. He has also been recognised as a Young Researcher by the ACM Heidelberg Laureate Forum.
DRIFE’s launch on August 6th was a massive success, with the token price reaching over 20x and the token performing at a 10-15x almost one month later. The success of the launch is thanks to a strong pre-launch marketing effort supported by the diverse set of investors and backers. If the token reaches a 25x, the project will achieve the famed ‘unicorn status’ of a $1 billion dollar market valuation. For blockchain based projects, this is extremely rare. The project also recently announced that it will be opening up staking soon, which will drive significant demand for their crypto-focused investor base.
DRIFE is the only taxi platform that empowers both drivers and passengers, challenging an unfair model by bringing fairness and transparency where drivers take home 100% of fares and passengers can pay using cryptocurrency. For the first time, blockchain technology has enabled DRIFE to tokenize the ride-hailing economy, allowing riders to openly connect with drivers through the decentralised platform, cutting out the middleman and reducing additional costs.
To date, DRIFE has 2,000 registered drivers and 20,000 riders ready to go in Bangalore, India with a target of 10,000 active drivers by Q3 2021. It is in advanced stages of gaining operational approval in Brazil, France and Dubai, with plans for EU, US and Asian market expansions to follow. DRIFE is also in conversation with representatives from El Salvador, the first crypto-progressive country to recognise Bitcoin as legal tender for defining next steps towards a decentralised taxi network with crypto payment scheme.
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