[Funding alert] Zingbus raises pre-Series A round from VCs, angel investors

Zingbus, an inter-city bus aggregator startup founded by IIT Kharagpur graduates, has raised an undisclosed pre-Series A investment led by Venture Catalysts, Titan Capital, and Better Capital, along with Oyo founder Ritesh Agarwal and People Group founder Anupam Mittal.

This funding round also saw participation from 9Unicorns accelerator fund, AdvantEdge Founders, Smile Internet, MG Group, and several other angel investors.

Zingbus will use this funding to increase its operational footprint across the country and expand the scale of its fleet operations to 500 buses.

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Founded in 2019 by Prashant Kumar, Mratunjay and Ravi Kumar Verma, Zingbus aims to build a large intercity mobility consumer brand. It currently enables over 2,000 daily journeys across Delhi/NCR, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Jammu, Haryana, and Punjab. This startup is aiming at one million journeys in the next one year.

According to the startup, with almost 10 million daily intercity bus rides in India, the overall market is worth $15 billion at present and is growing at a CAGR of 18 percent. Around 25 percent of this market is semi-deluxe, air-conditioned buses, which will be the focus segment for Zingbus over the next couple of years.

On the funding, Prashant Kumar, Co-founder and CEO, Zingbus, said, "We believe that the right to affordable and dignified travel is fundamental to human existence and development, and so aspire to provide access to safe, reliable, and affordable travel to everyone. We are delighted to have the support of industry leaders, and our journey looks bright under their guidance.”

Apoorva Ranjan Sharma – Co-founder and President, Venture Catalysts, said, "Zingbus is already India’s highest-rated branded bus line that aggregates fleets of buses to deliver end-to-end and standardised intercity travel experiences at affordable prices. The platform has the potential to revolutionise the intercity travel services space in India and we are delighted to provide the support it needs to grow and scale its operations."