Ride-sharing platform Rapido is set to launch airport pooling services, said co-founder and CEO Aravind Sanka. “We are launching airport pool. Our concept is that the transportation has to be accessible and has to be even more affordable. But how do you make it affordable is by making it shared, same asset being shared or the vehicle being shared with the person who is already going that route,” said Sanka at the Bengaluru Tech Summit.
The company has been doubling down on its 2-wheeler, 3- wheeler and 4-wheeler services, while also creating employment at scale he added.
Rapido has already launched 3-wheeler shared rides. Rapido posted a 46 per cent rise in operating revenue in the last fiscal year at ₹648 crore backed by its entry into new businesses and increased customer bookings, also narrowed its net loss by 45 per cent to ₹371 crore from ₹674
The company also sharply narrowed its net loss to ₹17 crore in the September quarter of this fiscal from ₹74 crore a year earlier. It fulfilled 207 million orders in the quarter, nearly doubling from 106 million orders last year.
Battery swapping, role of ecosystems
The transition towards sustainable mobility in India is driven by advancements in shared mobility, digital public infrastructure (DPI), and electrification.
Digital public infrastructure (DPI) is poised to play a critical role in electrification. Shan MS, co-founder and COO said, “The concept of digital public infrastructure is very critical. We believe open networks and open protocols are crucial for electrification. The focus should be on enabling community-driven approaches alongside DPI initiatives.”
Electrification is being accelerated through ecosystem-focused solutions like battery swapping. Anant Badjatya, CEO, Indofast Swap Energy, “Battery swapping reduces costs by dissociating the battery from the vehicle, making it 40% cheaper.” Meanwhile, Revfin CEO Sameer Aggarwal stressed on the need for partnerships: “The only way to scale electric vehicles is by building ecosystems and partnerships.”