Bike Taxi Startup Rapido Now a Unicorn, Joins The Elite Club

After securing $120 million, or more than Rs 1,000 crore, in fundraising from current investor WestBridge Capital at a post-money valuation of $1 billion (around 8300 Cr), competitor Ola and Uber rival Rapido has emerged as India’s newest unicorn startup.

The investor made the additional capital contributions through three of its affiliated companies, the Setu AIF Trust, Konark Trust, and MMPL Trust, according to regulatory documents.

Rapido is expected to raise a further $20 million (about 170 Cr) from international investors, according to an ET article.

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Investors such as TVS Motor Company, Nexus Ventures, Shell Ventures, Kunal Shah (CRED), Yamaha, Pawan Munjal Family Trust, Nexus Venture Partners, and Positive Moves have contributed approximately $430 million (about 3500 Cr) to Rapido so far.

It acquired two businesses, Getbike in 2018 and Vahananlytics in 2019, according to CrunchBase.

2015 saw the founding of the Hyderabad-based startup by Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli, and Rishikesh SR. Rapido has expanded into taxis after beginning as a car and bike taxi aggregator.

Before the present round, in April 2022, Rapido raised $180 million (about 1500 Cr) in a Series D investment headed by TVS Motor Company and existing investors Westbridge, Shell Ventures, and Nexus Ventures.

The Hyderabad-based company has expanded into taxis after beginning as an auto and bike taxi aggregator. The corporation plans to increase the number of cars and taxis it offers in India’s more recent cities.

In an effort to diversify beyond vehicle and bike taxi services, Rapido has also ventured into the hyper-local parcel delivery and taxi service industries.

By offering subscription-based plans for auto-rickshaw drivers on their platforms, Rapido, a competitor of Ola, Uber, and Namma Yatri, has eliminated the need for a booking fee or commission on each transaction.

Although Rapido has not yet released its FY24 financials, in FY23 its operating revenue increased 3X to ₹443 crore. The sharp increase in scale also led to a 54% increase in losses, or ₹675 crore in FY23.

Before this, Krutrim AI, an AI business founded by Perfios and Bhavish Aggarwal, became a member of the unicorn startup club. Interestingly, Krutrim is the first AI unicorn firm in India.