[Funding alert] Intercity bus startup YOLO raises seed funding of $600,000
YOLO aims to use the funding to expand its full-stack bus services across South India, and scale across Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Kerala, and other cities.
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Gurugram-based intercity transportation startup YOLO has raised $600,000 as seed funding from an undisclosed VC Firm and a couple of angel investors.
said the funds would be used to invest across territory expansion plans, technology, and marketing strategies. The company’s primary focus is to expand its full-stack bus services across the southern part of the country and scale across Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Kerala, and other cities. YOLO has a fleet of 20+ buses till date.
The Founders of YOLO: Mukul Shah(L), Shailesh Gupta, and Danish Chopra.
Started in August 2019 by Shailesh Gupta, Mukul Shah, and Danish Chopra, YOLO is an intercity bus service that can be booked through the YOLO App, , , , or through one of their agents or physical booths. YOLO said it had covered more than 800,000 km with more than 50,000 riders tiill now.
Shailesh Gupta, CEO and Founder, YOLO, said, :
“This fresh funding will help us work towards our vision. It will enable us to escalate a mobility platform that will help to bring in different forms of mobility solutions hyper-suited to the needs of cities and towns we plan to expand into, over the next few months.”
The whole idea of YOLO was born out of a range of travel experiences after Shailesh and Mukul witnessed travellers struggling with washrooms and other amenities in the bus. They found that there was a major disconnect between what existing bus operators delivered and what travellers needed. The challenges led them to start a premium bus line with the best amenities, at par with market price.
A range of services
YOLO provides services like personalised bus captains, welcome kits to all passengers, high-speed WiFi, hygienic washrooms, F&B, USB charging points, movies, and infotainment. Apart from this, it also offers a special kit for babies/ pregnant women, emergency SOS button inside the bus, and special safety measures for women.
Mukul Shah, Founder and COO, YOLO, said, “We are exhilarated to extend our services to the Southern part of India. We have done extensive market research on travelling in India and devised our plan to provide a hassle-free travel experience to our patrons. This has been a very learning and exciting journey for us so far and we are ready to live the dream”.
YOLO recently began operating a "Fit Bus", also known as "Yogawali", where yoga instructors conduct a "seat yoga session" before each journey. The bus also has an air purifier to maintain fresh air and oxygen levels.
Danish Chopra, CTO and Founder, YOLO, said: “We are planning to ameliorate services by integrating operations and technology. We are also strategising to bring more dynamic routes on board.”
(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)
