Ride-hailing operations now profitable, no longer in cash burn phase: Rapido CEO Aravind Sanka
In a fireside chat at TechSparks 2025, Rapido’s Co-founder and CEO, Aravind Sanka, said that the period when ride-hailing companies were bleeding cash is now over and that players in the segment are running operations profitably.
India’s ride-hailing segment is competitive. At a time when the market was inching towards a duopoly with Uber and Ola, Rapido entered the segment and disrupted the ecosystem with its low-commission and later, zero-commission model. While demand for ride-hailing increased, companies operating in the segment were bleeding cash. However, Rapido’s Co-founder and CEO Aravind Sanka said that those days are behind for all players.
In a fireside chat with Shradha Sharma, Founder & CEO, YourStory and The Bharat Project, Sanka said penetration is one of the main reasons behind the segment’s ability to run operations profitably. Another factor is adoption by customers and driver partners alike.
The numbers underscore Rapido's growth. The company, on average, now facilitates five million rides every day and employs three million driver partners through its platform per month.
While the company’s business is growing, it is also looking to invest in new categories. “We are launching in airports. And a lot of people still do not know that we have cabs, even in Bangalore. So, there is some investment that we are doing in terms of making people aware,” Sanka said. The firm is also looking to launch in new cities, towns, and villages.
Additionally, the company also runs logistics services where users can tap into Rapido’s network of two-wheeler and three-wheeler captains—the name Rapido has coined for its driver partners—to transfer parcels. The firm also mobilises its captains to form partnerships with quick commerce and food delivery players to help provide these companies with logistics services.
Moreover, the company is also piloting food delivery services in selected areas of Bengaluru under the banner “Ownly”. On how the pilot is panning out, Sanka remarked that it has recognised an opportunity in space.
India’s food delivery segment, primarily governed by listed giants Zomato and Swiggy, is not Rapido’s first stab at a David vs Goliath-esque story. The company is simply replicating its strategy which won them the ride-hailing market share.
Disrupting the template
Rapido initially came into the ride-hailing segment at a time when driver partners were increasingly unhappy with the exorbitant commissions being levied on their trips by established players in the segment.
The company set up a low commission model to attract driver partners. Soon, the firm adopted a zero-commission model, which allowed the company to grab a bigger piece of the market pie. “We charge a daily fee from the driver where they pay Rs 20-Rs 30 per day and then all the money they get from customers goes to them,” Sanka said.
A back-of-the-envelope calculation considering the average ticket size of rides is Rs 100, the company is helping its driver partners earn Rs 50 crore daily.
“When we started, the names of incumbents were big, but actually the scale was not big. That is one other thing where from outside, all this looks like everything is solved. But if you actually go on the ground and see the number of users, the number of rides, the number of cities, nothing is penetrated," Sanka noted.
Rapido is now focusing on deepening its penetration in Tier II, III and IV markets. “This is the next wave that we are going after, where we are not focusing on just the top 10 cities.”
