Yamaha, Spotify India CEO join Indian bike taxi startup’s $52m round

Rapido, an Indian bike taxi platform, announced that it has secured US$52 million in a series C funding round that saw participation from Yamaha Motor and Spotify India CEO Amarjit Singh Batra.

Photo credit: Rapido

Other new investors like Shell Ventures and Cred founder Kunal Shah joined existing backers Hero MotoCorp chairman and managing director Pawan Munjal, Westbridge Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, and Everblue Management on Rapido’s cap table in the latest round.

The six-year-old startup has now raised a total of US$130 million to date. After bringing 15 million users onboard the platform in the last two years, the company is looking to add 50 million users in the next 18 months.

Rapido currently operates in around 100 cities across India with over 15 million customers and over 1.5 million driver-partners. The company said it has grown 10x in the financial year ended 2020.

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During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Bengaluru-based startup also rolled out auto-rickshaw services in 26 cities and clocked a 4x growth in the segment’s user base in the last few months. The company also said that its overall business has recovered to 85% of pre-Covid levels.