Bike taxi startup Rapido has raised $180 million in a new Series D funding round, which was led by online food delivery giant Swiggy and included participation from existing investors Westbridge, Shell Ventures, and Nexus Ventures. This puts the valuation of the six-year-old Rapido, which has raised $310 million in funding rounds to date, at over $800 million.
The Series D comes after the $52 million Rapido had raised last August, in a Series C.
The proceeds from the funding round will be utilized towards boosting Rapido’s technology, strengthening its teams through recruitments, and increasing the overall supply to create an enhanced consumer experience across a larger audience base in metropolitan cities and Tier I, II, and III cities.
Funds will also be used to ensure seamless last-mile connectivity and make investments across bike-taxi, auto, and delivery, as well as enhance its captain earnings and improve customer experience in the cities it has a presence in.
“We, at Rapido, are grateful to our existing and new investors for giving impetus to our vision. We look forward to learning from Swiggy’s experience to scale up throughout the country and enhance our captains’ / customers’ experience, who are the backbone of our business. Besides, TVS Motor, who are very passionate about EVs and the future of mobility, will help us in further expansion. We hope to accelerate our pace of becoming a household name as we increase our geographies and services, on the backbone of our robust, global-standard technology,” said Aravind Sanka, co-founder, Rapido.
Swiggy’s interest in Rapido is clear – this will help it boost its last-mile delivery capabilities and quick commerce plans as it will have better access to Rapido’s enviable bike fleet. Its two-wheeler service is present in over 100 Indian cities, and its three-wheelers have a presence in 26 cities today. The fresh funding will benefit Rapido as well, which can deepen its presence and strengthen its foothold in the market. Today, Rapido has over 25 million customers and 1.5 million driver-partners (its ‘captains’).
In recent times, it also expanded its services with Rapido Local (its person-to-person on-demand delivery service) and Rapido Store (which will deliver groceries right at your doorsteps) as e-commerce and hyperlocal delivery grew during the pandemic. For the future, it hopes to serve 50 million customers in the next year.
“Swiggy and Rapido share a vision to build a logistics platform that empowers riders through more opportunities and higher earnings. While we’ve already been working together, this investment facilitates closer alignment to leverage the synergies between the platforms and improve the value we provide to both consumers and delivery executives/captains across the country,” said Sriharsha Majety, co-founder and CEO of Swiggy.
