Rapido, a bike taxi platform, has secured $175 million in a new round led by food tech giant Swiggy and including WestBridge, TVS Motor, Shell Ventures, and Nexus Ventures. WestBridge led a $52 million investment in the Bengaluru-based business in August of last year.
The funds will be used to improve Rapido's technology, amplify and develop its teams across a wide range of capabilities, increase total supply to create a better consumer experience across a broader audience base in metros, tier 1, 2, and 3 cities, and assure smooth last-mile connection.
In an official statement, the company said, "This will fortify Rapido's presence to provide a convenient, safe, accessible, and affordable alternative mode of daily commuting. Rapido will be investing these funds in all its three categories, viz. bike-taxi, auto and delivery, to enhance its captain earnings and improve customer experience in 100+ cities the company operates in."
Rapido had already received $130 million from a variety of investors and now operates in over 100 locations across the country, with over 25 million clients and 1.5 million Captains (driver-partners). Swiggy's participation in this financing will capitalise on the two firms' synergies. It will provide additional revenues for both Swiggy's delivery executives and Rapido's captains, with the goal of providing a better customer experience through increased fleet availability.
Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli, and Rishikesh SR launched Rapido in 2015. Rapido Rental is a first-of-its-kind multi-stop bike rental service for customers who need to perform several chores at different locations and don't want to deal with the headache of making multiple reservations and waiting for a ride.
