Bike taxi platform Rapido raises USD 180 mn led by Swiggy, TVS Motor

NEW DELHI, April 16 (IANS): Bike taxi aggregator platform Rapido on Friday said it has raised USD 180 million led by online food delivery service Swiggy.
Rapido said the funds would be used to bolster technology, strengthen its teams and reach a larger audience in metros, tier 1, 2 and 3 cities to ensure last-mile connectivity.
The Series D round also saw investment from TVS Motor Company, along with existing investors Westbridge, Shell Ventures and Nexus Ventures.
“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. TVS Motor will help us in further expansion,” said Aravind Sanka, co-founder, Rapido.
Rapido will invest funds in all its three categories – bike-taxi, auto and delivery – in more than 100 cities it currently operates in.
It will also provide additional earnings for both Swiggy’s delivery executives and Rapido’s captains.
“Swiggy and Rapido share a vision to build a logistics platform that empowers riders through more opportunities and higher earnings,” said Sriharsha Majety, co-founder and CEO of Swiggy.
Rapido has raised USD 130 mn in the past from various investors, and serves over 25 million customers with 1.5 million captains (driver-partners).
At present, the company has grown more than 2.5x to pre-pandemic levels by maintaining market leadership in its core category.
“TVS Motor has always been at the forefront of driving the mobility transformation and we are glad to partner with Rapido, an emerging leader in the ride sharing segment across India,” said Sudarshan Venu, joint managing director, TVS Motor.