Looks like India has yet another Unicorn in the country’s ever-expanding club of private companies valued to the north of a billion dollars. According to regulatory filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Rivigo raised $4.9 million from South Korea’s KB Platform Fund this year. This rather young company is now valued at $1.05 billion, up from $950 million in February last year. 2018 witnessed a funding of $50 million from SAIF Partners and private equity major Warburg Pincus. With such empowering investors, the future of Rivigo seems clear and promising.
Reportedly in September last year the firm was in talks to raise $400 million. Albeit, it hasn’t been able to do so, and has been topped up by existing backers SAIF and Warburg, who last invested $65 million in July this year.
This 2014 firm has entered the Unicorn club when start-ups are entering the $1B range of young firms. Based at Gurugram, Rivigo has a ‘relay trucking’ model, under which a truck driver hands over the vehicle to another driver at a designated pit stop, thereby ensuring that the truck is not idle at any point during the journey. Rivigo’s relay model ensures drivers are behind the wheel for a maximum of four-five hours at a stretch and reach home the same day.
Just recently Rivigo has launched its one of a kind RaaS service for its fleet owners across the country. This first-of-its-kind service is based on Rivigo’s patented technological capability through which it has been operating relay for the past five years .
India is slowly becoming a potential hub for start-ups to bloom and prosper. Recent funding events in startups have been a living testament to the opportunities available in India.
Ola has been an old member of the Unicorn Club. However more firms are joining at a rapid rate. The other billion dollar start-ups created this year include Icertis, a contract management software platform, grocery startup BigBasket, ecommerce logistics firm Delhivery, software firm Druva, fantasy gaming startup Dream11 and IT healthcare firm CitiusTech.
