Ride-hailing platform Rapido, which entered the unicorn club last year, has secured Rs 250 crore ($28.8 million) in fresh capital from Dutch technology investor Prosus NV as a part of an extended Series E round.
The latest investment will give Prosus a 2.9% stake in the company, multiple media reports said, citing Rapido’s filings with the Registrar of Companies.
Rapido did not respond to VCCircle’s queries regarding the latest fundraise till the time of publishing the story.
The Bengaluru-based startup had raised $200 million in fresh funding in its Series E round in September 2024. The round, led by its existing investor WestBridge, valued Rapido at about $1.1 billion. The round also saw participation from existing investor Nexus Venture Partners, along with new investors Think Investments and Invus Opportunities.
At the time, Rapido said it would use the capital to expand its operations across the country and improve its app, as it scaled up its operations across all categories.
Rapido was set up in 2015 by Aravind Sanka along with Rishikesh SR and Pavan Guntupalli as a bike-taxi service. It has since expanded its offerings to include auto-rickshaws, and most recently, cabs too. The platform’s app offers services in multiple languages, such as Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and English.
In 2024, it claims to offer about 2.5 million daily rides. It has also grown its reach beyond metro cities and has a presence in over 100 cities, including tier II and III cities across the country.
Previously, it raised $180 million in a Series D funding round led by Swiggy in 2022. Prior to that, it secured $52 million in its Series C funding in 2021.
The company also counts TVS Motor Company, Shell Ventures, Yamaha India, Cred founder Kunal Shah, Spotify India’s CEO Amarjit Singh Batra and Positive Moves Consulting among its investors.
The startup narrowed its losses to Rs 370 crore in FY24 from Rs 675 crore in FY23. Its net sales grew to Rs 648 crore during the year from Rs 443 crore in FY23.
