Gurugram-based ixigo acquires bus ticketing and aggregation platform AbhiBus

Gurugram-based Le Travenues Technology, which operates AI-based travel app Ixigo, announced the acquisition of business and operations of Hyderabad-based bus ticketing and aggregation platform AbhiBus for a mix of cash and ixigo stock as consideration. 

According to the official statement, AbhiBus team and its Founder and CEO Sudhakar Reddy Chirra, have joined the ixigo team as a part of this deal. All intellectual property, brands, technology, and operations are being transferred to ixigo.

The financial details of the deal remain undisclosed. This deal marks ixigo’s second acquisition this year after it acquired Bengaluru-based train booking app Confirmtkt, in February.

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This development comes a week after ixigo raised a $53 million fund in a round led by the Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, ahead of its proposed initial public offering.

Speaking about the acquisition deal, Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar, Co-founders of ixigo, explained that both the brands are focusing on the next billion traveller market. According to ixigo, this deal will help it to consolidate its presence in Tier-II, III, and IV markets by offering a multi-modal transportation experience across trains, flights, and buses. The company claimed to have a combined user base of nearly 255 million users as of May 31, 2021.

“AbhiBus has built an innovative and high growth company with deep penetration on the supply side across state road transport companies (SRTCs) and private bus operators, and on the demand side, as the dominant bus ticketing brand in several Indian states. By leveraging our combined user base, multi-modal transportation capabilities, tech resources, and travel domain expertise, we will be able to enhance the experience of millions of travellers in India every day,” the co-founders said in a statement.

Founded in 2008, AbhiBus provides end-to-end software and other value-added solutions such as e-ticketing systems, fleet management solutions, vehicle tracking systems, passenger information systems, and logistics management. 

It also offers technology solutions to private bus partners and state transport corporations in India. AbhiBus has also joined hands with IRCTC to offer bus tickets to IRCTC users. The company claimed to have sold 26,000 bus tickets per day through its platform in FY2020.

“We started AbhiBus with a vision to become India’s most preferred bus booking platform. We are excited to be joining ixigo, whose team and products have created new benchmarks for the travel industry. We remain committed as a team towards our joint vision of serving the underserved market segment of the next billion travellers in the country, for whom trains and buses are the primary modes of transportation,” Sudhakar said.