Bike-taxi service Rapido to double its presence to 50 cities in 6 months

Two-wheeler ride sharing platform Rapido plans to introduce bike-taxi service across 25 additional cities in the next six months.

Aravind Sanka, co-founder, Rapido said the bike-taxi service will be available across 50 cities (from 25 at present) in six months. “While the South has been the recent focus, we are now eyeing some of the smaller cities in the north and east of India.”

‘Still in demand’

Besides strengthening its foothold across locations, Rapido is said to be in talks to raise additional capital for its expansion and growth plans.

“We plan to raise around $10 million around July-August” Sanka said.

The service provider has meanwhile tied up with Acko.com to provide accidental insurance cover for both the driver and the customer.

“We have done more than 10 million trips since the introduction of the service about three years back and sought just about 10 claims till date. We have around 30,000 registered captains.” Apart from bike-taxi service, Rapido has introduced Rapido-auto service on a pilot-basis, in Coimbatore. “We realised the demand for auto service, considering that some women have reservations in sharing the pillion seat with a stranger.

“Three-wheeler service has also been a hit as it is perceived to be more economical compared with a cab,” Sanka said adding, “bike taxi is still in demand.”