Rapido to enter four-wheeler aggregator segment soon

Rapido, the bike taxi aggregator and logistics service provider, is gearing up to venture into the four-wheeler segment, which is dominated by industry giants such as Uber and Ola Cab.

At present, Rapido operates in the two- and three-wheeler segments, with a substantial fleet comprising 50 lakh bike taxis and 7 lakh auto-rickshaws. After dedicating eight years to understanding and growing its market, Rapido believes it’s time to venture into a new segment.

“We are now launching the four-wheeler segment in the near future. We will keep you updated as soon as we have more information to share,” Pavan Guntupalli, one of Rapido’s co-founders, told businessline.

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It is estimated that in the shared-ride industry, the number of users is expected to reach 313.70 million by 2027, with a projected revenue of $19,560 million in the same timeframe.

Discussing the competitive landscape in the bike taxi sector, Guntupalli emphasised that given the demand, there is ample room for three to four more players to enter this category. He also pointed out that this expansion will ultimately lead to job creation, even in the most remote regions of the country.

Today, the start-up holds 40 per cent of the overall market in the affordable transportation category, and is present in 100 cities. Meanwhile, in the bike taxi category, it claims to be the market leader with a margin of 65- 70 per cent, and does 10 lakh rides a day across 100 cities.

• Also read: CMRL and Rapido launch women bike taxi for metro riders

Guntupalli further explained the stark contrast in the sizes of India’s two-wheeler and four-wheeler markets, with approximately 160,000,000 two-wheelers compared to fewer than 4-5 million cars.

As of now, Rapido has an Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) of $500 million and closed FY2023 with a top-line revenue of $400 million. “We are already operationally profitable and are looking at EBITDA profitability in the next three quarters,” the co-founder said.

When it comes to expansion, Rapido has its sights set on specific markets, notably Maharashtra. The company is actively collaborating with government entities for their support. “In particular, Mumbai and Pune, both facing traffic congestion issues, are areas of keen interest for us.” However, the primary focus is not on geographical expansion beyond its current markets.

The start-up is backed by investors including Nexus Venture Partners, WestBridge Capital and Thompson Taraz and has raised a total of $230 million to date. 

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