Bengaluru, March 28 Mobility start-up Chalo has acquired a shared mobility start-up Vogo to augment its bus technology services by powering first and last mile rides at major bus stops and other public places.

While the two companies did not disclose the deal value, Chalo spokesperson told BusinessLine that it is a share-swap deal with a 100 per cent buyout by Chalo. Prior to Covid-19, Vogo was present in Hyderabad and Bengaluru, fulfilling about 50,000 rides daily. Users could access petrol-powered two-wheelers through its app. As a part of this acquisition, the company will now completely switch to electric vehicles across its fleet. Vogo will also offer other types of electric vehicles to suit market needs.

Further, talking about the reasoning behind the acquisition, a Chalo spokesperson said, “Chalo has run several pilots offering first and last mile services for bus passengers in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, and seen a significant increase in bus ridership due to these services. This acquisition gives Chalo an opportunity to expand to 37 cities and reach a captive audience that already uses Chalo’s services to take buses.”

Operating under same brand name

Vogo will continue to be operate under the same brand name. Its founders Anand Ayyadurai and Padmanabhan Balakrishnan, along with the rest of the Vogo team will be retained with Chalo and Vogo. Anand will step into a new leadership role for the Chalo group; Padmanabhan, previously Vogo’s Chief Operating Officer, will now serve as the Chief Executive Officer; Abhimanyu Goyal, who was serving as the Vice-President, Engineering, and has been with the company for five years, will now be elevated to Chief Technology Officer; and Sharath Parameswaran, who was serving as the Vice- President, Operations and Growth, will now be elevated to Chief Business Officer of Vogo.

Vinayak Bhavnani, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Chalo, said, “This acquisition offers Chalo key strategic gains. Now, we will be able to offer a cost-effective option for bus passengers to travel to and from bus stops, solving the door-to-door daily commute. This will increase bus ridership and serves our core purpose of making travel more convenient and reliable for all.”

Padmanabhan Balakrishnan, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Vogo, said, “Given our shared DNA and values, we are pleased to join forces with the Chalo team. We have a common vision of solving the daily commute. Vogo democratised access to transport, and with Chalo we take this a step further in serving crores of people who rely on buses. We have already begun our transition to a 100 per cent electric fleet and will also expand into new vehicle categories to serve people better.”

Chalo is a bus transport technology company established in 2014. The Chalo App provides live tracking of over 15,000 buses. In January 2022, Chalo said it had powered 100 million rides on its platform. The company also offers Chalo Card, which is a contactless tap-to-pay travel card for bus travel. Its other offerings include mobile tickets and mobile bus passes that can be bought on the Chalo App as well as through the Chalo Card. Chalo partners with bus operators to deploy this technology and improve the bus travel experience.

Fund raising

Chalo has recently announced a $40-million Series C funding round in Oct 2021, taking its total funding to $62 million, and the acquisition of Shuttl shortly thereafter. Chalo has a presence in 37 cities across 13 States including Maharashtra, Delhi NCR, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and others.

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