Rapido raises $180 mn in series D funding

NEW DELHI: Bike taxi platform Rapido has raised $180 million (more than ₹1,370 crore) in a Series D round of funding led by new investor Swiggy, it said on Friday.

The round also saw investment from TVS Motor Company, along with existing investors Westbridge, Shell Ventures and Nexus Ventures, the company said.

The funds would be used to bolster technology, amplify and strengthen teams across diverse sets of capabilities, and increase overall supply to create an enhanced consumer experience across a larger audience base in metros, tier I, II and III cities, it said. The funds would be invested in all the three categories of bike-taxi, auto, and delivery, to enhance its drive partners’ earnings and improve customer experience in more than 100 cities that it operates in, Rapido said.

“Swiggy’s participation in this round will build on the synergies between the two companies,” it said. ”We look forward to learning from Swiggy’s experience to scale up throughout the country and enhance our captains’ (driver-partners) / customers’ experience, who are the backbone of our business,” said Rapido co-founder Aravind Sanka,

“TVS Motor, who are very passionate about electric vehicles 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, globalstandard technology,” he said.

“Swiggy and Rapido share a vision to build a logistics platform that empowers riders through more opportunities and higher earnings,” said Swiggy co-founder and chief executive officer Sriharsha Majety.

“We’ve already been working together, but 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,” Majety said.

Rapido had earlier raised $130 million from various investors. It is present in around 100 cities across the country.

THE FUNDS RAISED WILL BE INVESTED IN ALL THE THREE CATEGORIES OF BIKE-TAXI, AUTO, AND DELIVERY