Urban Mobility Startup Routematic Nets $40 Mn

Transport-as-a-Service solution provider Routematic has secured $40 Mn (INR 338.5 Cr) in a Series C funding round co-led by Fullerton Carbon Action Fund and Shift4Good.

Cofounder and chief executive Sriram Kannan told Inc42 that the newly raised capital will primarily help the startup scale its operations, while strengthening its presence in the existing markets.

The company also has plans to expand its fleet to over 10K vehicles across five cities, which includes Bengaluru, Pune, Delhi NCR, Chennai and Hyderabad, by March 2026.

“We are also setting up relay operation centers (ROCs), which refers to automatic operations command centers that centralises all operations in a city level, into a common area that is where we run it. This would act as a multiple companies level operation center from which the entire city can be monitored, operated, where drivers will come and attach themselves,” Kannan added.

Founded in 2012 by Kannan and Kavitha Ramachandragowda, Routematic is an urban mobility company that aims to provide a safer and comfortable employee transportation solution for companies and corporations in India.

In terms of employing artificial intelligence (AI) in enhancing its services, Kannan said that it has helped the startup to regulate the routes in saving time and vehicles required to complete trips in a day. Further, AI has helped the company to position their fleet by predicting the demand intensity across the city.

Routematic has 550 employees in its team, as of now. Also Kannan disclosed that the company boasts over 300 corporate customers, where they move about 350K employees on a daily basis.

Excluding the new funding, the startup has so far raised INR 46 Cr in equity from investors such as Blume Ventures, Bosch and VAMM Ventures, among others.

Routematic competes with brands such as Wise Travel India Cabs (WTicabs) and MoveInSync Technology Solutions in the corporate transport mobility sector.

The Bengaluru-based company is also working towards turning its fleet into fully-electric gradually. 

Kannan also revealed that the company is set to close its FY25 topline at INR 180 Cr, while EBITDA would be about positive between 1-2%. Also, he predicts profit after tax (PAT) will be slightly negative 1-2% this fiscal year.

The development comes at a time when corporate mobility space has been seeing a steady growth in the market, with corporates mandating employees to work from office.

Meanwhile, betting on the growing demand in the corporate side, hospitality major OYO rolled out a new B2B product last October, designed to meet corporate travel and event planning needs across India.

The employee transportation services market, valued at $6.1 Bn in 2023, is projected to more than double by 2030, while the corporate car rentals market is expected to surge to $8.8 Bn from $4.7 Bn, based on Eco Mobility’s Red Herring Prospectus (RHP).