Rapido rides into unicorn club with $200 mn fundraise

Bike taxi startup Rapido has raised $200 million in its Series E funding round, propelling the mobility startup into the much vaunted unicorn club.

The latest investment elevates Rapido’s post-money valuation to $1.1 billion. The Series E funding round was led by WestBridge Capital. The round also saw participation from existing investor Nexus, along with new investors Think Investments and Invus Opportunities.

Rapido plans to use the fundraise to grow its operations across all categories, including bike-taxis, three-wheelers, and taxi-cabs.

The newly raised funds will be strategically allocated to expanding Rapido’s operations across India and scaling its technology platform to enhance service delivery, the startup says.

“With this new infusion of capital, we are eager to explore and expand our offerings, ensuring we meet the evolving needs of our customers. Over the past year, we've experienced significant growth, with our daily rides surging to 2.5 million. This investment will empower us to continue innovating and improving our services, allowing us to better serve our customers and make significant strides in enhancing urban mobility for everyone,” says Aravind Sanka, co-founder of Rapido.

Initially focused on bike-taxis, the startup has since diversified into auto and cab services, expanding its value proposition and strengthening its operations. Rapido has also extended its reach beyond metro cities, establishing a presence in over 100 cities, including tier 2 and 3 cities across the country.

"In the five years since the initial investment made in Rapido, we've seen Aravind, Pavan, Rishikesh and the team transform it into India's leading low-cost mobility platform. From dominating bike taxis to making significant strides into 3W autos and cabs,” says Sumir Chadha, co-founder and managing partner at WestBridge Capital.

Swiggy-backed bike taxi startup Rapido is aiming to achieve 15-20% of its total revenue through cab services by 2025, Fortune India reported earlier. Rapido, which was founded in 2015, announced its entry into the cab market through a SaaS-based (software-as-a-service) platform last year. The company initially launched a fleet of 1-1.5 lakh vehicles across Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, and Chennai.

Through its cab services, the bike taxi startup aims to compete with other cab aggregators such as Ola, Uber, and InDrive among others.

Its petrol-powered cab service came at a time when most of its peers have already forayed into the electric mobility segment. Rapido, however, is not rushing towards including electric vehicles as part of its fleet. It is rather trying to understand the hurdles in electrification be it in terms of financing, charging infrastructure or pricing by collaborating with the government, Rapido co-founder Pavan Guntupalli told Fortune India last year.