Rapido raises $120M from WestBridge Capital, turns unicorn
The Hyderabad-based ride-hailing startup raised around Rs 1,000 crore in a Series E funding round, becoming the third unicorn startup in India this year.
Rapido has raised $120 million (approximately Rs 1,000 crore) in a Series E funding round led by existing investor WestBridge Capital at a valuation of $1 billion, a filing with the Registrar of Companies showed.
The ride-hailing platform that operates bike taxis is the third company to enter the unicorn club this year after fintech Perfios and Bhavish Agarwal’s AI startup Krutrim.
Rapido’s Board passed a special resolution to allot 10 equity shares, 95,479 Series E and 95,489 Series E1 compulsory convertible preferred shares at an issue price of Rs 52,467 per share for a total consideration of about Rs 1,002 crore, citing a regulatory filing.
The startup raised $180 million in 2022 in a Series D funding round, which saw participation from companies like Swiggy and institutional investors like WestBridge Capital and Nexus Venture Partners, among others. According to data website Tracxn, it was last valued at $825 million.
Economic Times, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the company will likely raise another $20 million from global investors.
Rapido reported a rise in revenue to Rs 497.5 crore in FY 2022-23 compared with Rs 157.9 crore earned in FY 2021-22. Its net loss for the period widened to Rs 674.6 crore, compared with Rs 439 crore in FY 2021-22.
According to internal documents reviewed by Entrackr, the company, which competes with other ride-hailing companies in India like Uber and Ola, surpassed the latter in March 2024 with 16.5 lakh rides a day compared to Ola’s 13 lakh rides.
The startup earlier this year introduced a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for auto driver partners, or Auto Captains, transitioning from an aggregator commission-driven model to a lifetime zero commission model.
Edited by Jyoti Narayan
