Rapido Raises $52 Mn From Shell Ventures, Yamaha

Online bike taxi aggregator Rapido has announced securing $52 Mn in its latest funding round. The funding saw participation from new investors Shell Ventures, Yamaha, CRED’s founder Kunal Shah; Spotify India’s CEO Amarjit Singh Batra, and Positive Moves Consulting. 

Existing investors Hero Group’s Pawan Munjal, Westbridge, Nexus Venture, and Everblue Management were also part of the round.

The funding comes at the heels of the startup’s Series C funding, which started in May this year where it raised $43.4 Mn from Westbridge Capital and others, that has now closed at $52 Mn.

The new funds will be used to make strategic investments in cutting-edge innovations, technology, people and to boost its presence further in the country. It aims to make affordable transportation a reality for the masses.

Founded in 2015 by Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli and Rishikesh SR, Rapido is a bike taxi service app for intra-city commuting; it has now diversified into quick commerce and hyperlocal delivery.

The startup claims, its auto-rickshaw booking service launched in October 2020 — Rapido Auto — has now scaled to 26 cities, from 14 earlier and recorded a 4x growth. It has also reported having a strong recovery of 85% as compared to its pre-covid levels. 

In the announcement, Sanka said, “We are committed to providing the country with an affordable, accessible and safe everyday commuting option. This fundraising indicates more of the investors’ confidence in us than the need for capital. From 15 Mn users in the last two years, we now plan to increase that number to 50 Mn in the next 18 months.”

Rapido presently claims to be available in nearly 100 cities in India with over 15 Mn customers and over 1.5 Mn driver-partners.