Ride-hailing startup Rapido has raised a funding of $120 million Capital in its latest Series E funding round led by its existing investor WestBridge, thus making it the latest company to join the coveted unicorn club.
The investor poured in the fresh capital through three of its related entities – Setu AIF Trust, Konark Trust, and MMPL Trust, as per regulatory filings.
Founded in 2015 by Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli, and Rishikesh SR, Rapido had raised $180 million in Series D funding round in April 2022, led by Swiggy, which valued the mobility startup at $800 million. Rapido has raised about $430 million to date. However, Swiggy has not participated in this round.
The Hyderabad-based firm which started off as an auto and bike taxi aggregator, has also ventured into cabs. The company will expand its auto and cab offerings in newer cities across India.
Rapido has also forayed into the hyper-local parcel delivery and cab service market as it looks to expand its offerings from auto and bike taxi services.
Rapido is the third Indian startup to become a unicorn this year after fintech Perfios and AI upstart Krutrim.
Rapido which competes with Ola, Uber, and Namma Yatri has rolled out subscription-based plans for auto-rickshaw drivers on their platforms instead of charging a booking fee or commission on every transaction.
While Rapido is yet to disclose FY24 numbers, the firm’s operating revenue surged 3X to ₹443 crore during FY23. The steep growth in scale also caused a 54 per cent spike in losses which stood at ₹675 crore in FY23.