- Rapido secures $200M in Series E funding, catapulting its valuation to $1.1B and achieving coveted unicorn status in India's competitive transport market.
- Rapido CEO Aravind Sanka announces plans to challenge Ola and Uber with fresh capital injection, expanding into four-wheeler taxi services to diversify beyond bike taxis.
Rapido, the ride-hailing app, has raised $200 million (INR 1,660 crore) in a Series E funding round led by WestBridge Capital, pushing its valuation to $1.1 billion and earning it unicorn status. Existing investor Nexus Venture Partners also participated, along with new backers Think Investments and New York-based Invus Opportunities.
Rapido's CEO, Aravind Sanka, told ET that the fresh funds will go towards expanding the company's new four-wheeler taxi service, aiming to compete with Ola, Uber, and Namma Yatri.
Furthermore, Sanka said the company has seen strong growth over the past two years, becoming a market leader in the bike-taxi segment. Rapido now handles 2.3 to 2.5 million daily orders, with 7% coming from its business-to-business (B2B) services. The B2B side includes handling food deliveries for Swiggy during off-peak bike-taxi hours, and Rapido has partnered with ONDC to strengthen its logistics operations.
The company has reportedly secured $120 million from WestBridge as part of a larger funding round, according to ET. The bike-taxi platform has also crossed the $1 billion GMV mark, thanks to its expansion into new cities and the addition of four-wheeler cabs and auto-rickshaws.
Rapido, founded in 2015 by Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli, and Rishikesh SR, raised $180 million in a Series D round in April 2022. Led by Swiggy, the funding pushed the ride-hailing platform’s valuation to $800 million.
Edited by Harshajit Sarmah
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Harshajit Sarmah
