Bike taxi startup Rapido raises $52 mn to expand operations across India

Rapido, India’s largest bike taxi platform, has secured $52 million in its latest round of funding. The round saw participation from new investors including Shell Ventures, Yamaha, Kunal Shah, founder of CRED, Amarjit Singh Batra, CEO, Spotify India and Positive Moves Consulting. The round also witnessed continued support from existing investors – Pawan Munjal, Hero Group; Westbridge; Nexus Venture; and Everblue Management.

With its latest round of funding, Rapido will be making strategic investments in innovations, technology, people, and supply. This would help it to further boost its growth in the country and make affordable transportation a reality for the masses.

“We are committed to providing the country with an affordable, accessible and safe everyday commuting option,” said Aravind Sanka, co-founder, Rapido.

The rapid scaling of quick commerce and hyperlocal delivery has further driven Rapido’s expansion into on-demand logistics with Rapido Local and Rapido Store. The company’s Auto service launched in 26 cities has also recorded a growth of 4X and overall, Rapido has witnessed a strong recovery of 85 per cent as compared to pre-Covid.

“Even though our product and business model are lucrative and have the potential to churn out an exceptional revenue, this fundraising indicates more of the investors’ confidence in us than the need for capital,” said Sanka. “From 15 million users in the last two years, we now plan to increase that number to 50 million in the next 18 months and continue providing affordable transportation for the masses.”

The company previously raised total funding of $80 million from various investors including Westbridge AIF, Nexus Ventures, Sabre Investment, Skycatcher LLC, Bace Fund, Integrated Growth Capital, among others. 

Rapido is currently present in around 100 cities across the country with over 15 million customers and over 1.5 million Captains (driver-partners). The company has grown 10X in FY 2020, which has resulted in investor’s confidence in the growth of the company and the bike taxi industry in the country. It is the only mobility player in the country that is confident of growth, despite the tremors of the ongoing pandemic.

The company announced several initiatives in 2020 towards maintaining safety and following guidelines to protect the customer and the Captain. This included the innovative Safety back shields for bike taxi rides. The captains are expected to sanitize and clean the vehicle and all customer accessible areas, post every ride, along with mandatory usage of masks during the entire ride by the Captains and the passengers. The company also introduced new policy support, where it provides free cancellation if Captains or customers are without a mask.