Rapido, a Swiggy-backed bike-hailing startup, has emerged as a unicorn with a $120 million Series E funding round led by its largest backer, WestBridge Capital, which has provided capital across three different investment vehicles. A unicorn is a private equity startup with a current valuation of $1 billion or more.
Rapido’s board of directors has approved a special resolution to allot 10 equity shares, 95,479 Series E mandatory convertible preference shares (CCPS) and 95,489 Series E1 mandatory convertible preference shares (CCPS) at an issue price of Rs 52,467 per share for a consideration of Rs 1,002 crore or $120 million, according to a report by Entrackr, which cited the company’s regulatory filings with the Registrar of Companies.
WestBridge has invested the capital through Setu AIF Trust, Konark Trust and MMPL Trust, according to the documents.
According to Entrackr estimates, the company raised the funding at a post-money valuation of Rs 8,517 crore or a little over $1 billion.
In April 2022, Rapido had raised $180 million in its latest Series D round. Led by new investor Swiggy, the round also saw investment from TVS Motor Company, along with existing investors WestBridge, Shell Ventures, and Nexus Ventures, who participated in the fundraise. The company’s valuation after the fundraise was $830 million.
Founded in 2015 by Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli and SR Rishikesh, Rapido is an aggregator platform offering taxi, bike and car services in over 100 cities across India.
The company has raised a total of $329 million in funding from investors, according to data platform Tracxn. WestBridge is Rapido’s largest shareholder, with a 25.6 percent stake.
Food delivery firm Swiggy, which owns 15.1 per cent of the company, has not participated in the new round. Bengaluru-based Swiggy has confidentially filed initial public offering (IPO) documents for Rs 10,400 crore (about $1.25 billion) and is likely to go public in a few weeks, according to sources.
Last year in December, Rapido, known for its affordable bike-hailing services, announced its entry into the taxi market, which is currently dominated by brands Uber and Ola. Rapido’s foray into the taxi market is being made possible by a software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based platform. BluSmart and InDrive are among the other names in the taxi aggregator space.
Rapido had said it was entering the car market with its zero-commission model for drivers. The Rapido Cabs platform had plans to onboard driver partners through a subscription model rather than charging a commission for each ride, a model followed by traditional operators.
So far, fintech firm Perfios and Bhavish Aggarwal’s AI startup Krutrim have achieved unicorn status. Lending firm Moneyview and fintech firm Leap are on the verge of raising a new round that is expected to make them unicorns.
Rapido is yet to reveal its financial results for fiscal 2024. The company’s operating revenue tripled to Rs 443 crore during fiscal 2023. The sharp growth in scale also led to a 54 per cent increase in losses, which stood at Rs 675 crore in fiscal 2023, according to Entrackr.
First published: July 29, 2024 | 10:02 PM IS
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