Hyderabad-registered Roppen Transportation Services Pvt. Ltd, which runs bike pooling and taxi startup Rapido, has raised about $11.2 million (Rs 78.2 crore) in its Series A round of funding led by venture capital firm Nexus Venture Partners, a report in investment news website DealStreetAsia stated.
Citing documents from the Registrar of Companies (RoC) sourced by data research platform Paper.vc, the report stated that the startup will use the capital to fund its expansion plans.
Rapido Holdings LLC, Hong Kong-based multi-strategy private investment firm Integrated Capital, Karina Choudhrie Tech Sponsors India, as well as a number of individual investors also invested in the round, said the report.
Emails sent to Rapido and Nexus Venture Partners did not elicit a response at the time of filing this report.
In January this year, Rapido raised $10 million (Rs 71 crore) as part of the same Series A round led by Integrated Capital.
Existing investors US-based Skycatchr, AdvantEdge and Astarc Ventures had also participated in the round then.
In 2017, Rapido raised funding in smaller amounts from US-based Skycatcher Fund and Battery Road Digital Holdings LLC, UK-based Thompson Taraz Managers and Astarc Ventures.
Google India managing director Rajan Anandan and Hero MotoCorp chairman Pawan Munjal have also invested in the startup.
Rapido was founded by IIT alumni Aravind Sanka, Rishikesh SR and Pavan Guntupalli in November 2015. It has 10,000 active “captains” or drivers, including women, at present and claims to process 2.5 million orders a month. It operates in Bengaluru, Delhi and Hyderabad.
The bike taxi segment has seen a spike in deal activity over the past few months.
Earlier this week, Wickedride Adventure Services Pvt. Ltd, which operates dockless scooter-sharing platform Bounce, had raised $3 million (Rs 20.8 crore) from venture debt firm InnoVen Capital.
In February this year, dockless bike sharing platform Mobycy said it was finalising a $10-million Series A funding round to bankroll its growth plans. Last year, it had pivoted its operations from bicycles to electric scooters.
In the same month, bike rental brand Royal Brothers, owned by Royalbison Autorentals India Pvt. Ltd, raised $1 million (Rs 7 crore) in a pre-Series A round from angel investors.
In January this year, scooter-sharing firm Vogo raised Rs 63 crore ($8.9 million at current exchange rate) in a fresh funding round led by Kalaari Capital. The startup received a $100-million (around Rs 720 crore then) commitment from ride-hailing unicorn Ola in December 2018.
