Rapido, a bike taxi aggregator in India, raised $52 million in a Series C round backed by Shell Ventures, Yamaha, and others. The company promotes its app-based service for bike taxis to dodge the traffic during peak hours.
They also witnessed continued support from existing investors – Pawan Munjal, Hero Group; Westbridge; Nexus Venture; and Everblue Management. Rapido will use the fresh funds to boost its growth in the affordable transport sector by investing in innovations, technology, people, and supply.
“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 driven Rapido’s expansion into on-demand logistics with Rapido Local and Rapido Store. The company’s Auto service launched in 26 cities has quadrupled in terms of growth. Overall, Rapido has witnessed a substantial recovery of 85 percent as compared to the pre-COVID period.
Overall the company has grown ten times in FY 2020. It has resulted in investor 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.
“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,” he added.
The company announced several initiatives in 2020 towards maintaining safety and following guidelines to protect the customer and the captain (driver), including 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, and mandatory 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, which has helped it fight the pandemic-induced exigencies.
