Main Highlights
- Rapido announced that it has secured $52 million in a fresh funding round as the six-year-old firm seeks to carve out a niche in a market dominated by Ola and Uber.
- Rapido provides a two-wheeler service in over 100 Indian cities.
- The business claims to have over 15 million clients and 1.5 million captains, or driver-partners.
- The firm has also expanded in the three-wheeler market, which it claims has grown fourfold in the 26 locations where it is currently operating in hyperlocal deliveries.
Rapido, an Indian bike taxi aggregator, announced on Monday that it has secured $52 million in a fresh funding round as the six-year-old firm seeks to carve out a niche in a market dominated by Ola and Uber.
Shell Ventures, Yamaha, Kunal Shah of CRED, Amarjit Singh Batra of Spotify India, and Positive Moves Consulting contributed to the six-year-old startup’s new Series C funding. Existing investors Pawan Munjal of Hero Group, Westbridge, Nexus Venture Partners, and Everblue Management joined the round, bringing the company’s total funding to more than $130 million.
Rapido provides a two-wheeler service in over 100 Indian cities. The business claims to have over 15 million clients and 1.5 million captains, or driver-partners. In recent years, the firm has also expanded in the three-wheeler market, which it claims has grown fourfold in the 26 locations where it is currently operating in hyperlocal deliveries.
Rapido is India’s first and fastest-growing bike taxi app, with over 25 million downloads. They currently have operations in over a hundred cities. Since its beginning in 2015, Rapido has gone a long way. They have carved out a niche in the industry via hard work and dedication. It is their continuous endeavor to reinvent themselves as a brand and as a service.
Rapido’s innovative service concept
Rapido has 10 million satisfied clients and 100 million rides. Rapido’s innovative service concept is here to change intra-city travel by bringing you enhanced comfort and convenience. Their existence in the country has altered the idea of intra-city mobility and made last-mile connections accessible to everyone.
Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli, and SR Rishikesh, two IIT grads, launched theKarrier in 2015. According to estimates from September 2018, Rapido has over 15,000 registered users, with an average daily trip of 30,000. Rapido investors include Hero MotoCorp chairman Pawan Munjal and former Google India CEO Rajan Anandan.
Rapido co-founder Aravind Sanka stated in 2019 that the firm has produced over 500,000 employment in India. The firm claims to have 1 crore registered users in November 2019.
Rapido extended its logistical operations during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling hyperlocal delivery for local businesses and e-commerce enterprises. Rapido will start on-demand auto-rickshaw hailing services in 14 locations in October 2020.
The firm claimed in a statement that its platform, which was affected by the coronavirus epidemic that forced India to impose lockdowns in many states, had already recovered to an 85 percent level. The firm credited its success to India’s rising e-commerce and hyperlocal delivery prospects.
How has the pandemic affected Rapido?
“Even though our product and business strategy are profitable and have the potential to generate tremendous revenue,” said Aravind Sanka, co-founder of Rapido, in a statement.
He stated that the startup’s goal over the next 18 months is to service 50 million consumers. The firm intends to use funds to expand its technological stack, as well as to make strategic investments and recruit additional personnel.
Rapido’s expansion coincides with a change in India’s mobility industry, where Uber and Ola have inundated more than a million taxis in the last decade. Two-wheelers and three-wheelers have shown to be more successful in metropolitan areas since they can go considerably faster through traffic and are less expensive.
In recent years, both Ola and Uber have moved into the two-wheeler and three-wheeler categories, forming agreements with companies such as Vogo and Yulu. Ola has also moved into the production of electric automobiles. It introduced its first electric scooter, the Ola S1, on Sunday for 99,999 Indian rupees, or $1,350. On a full charge, the electric scooter has a range of 121 kilometers (75 miles).