Bike taxi startup Rapido to expand into the cab market

Eight-year-old homegrown bike taxi startup Rapido is expanding into the cab market to rival Uber and Ola, media report said on Friday.

The startup has begun a pilot project of its cab service in Hyderabad and plans to expand the service to other cities, including Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru and Chandigarh.

According to TechCrunch, citing sources, the company plans to launch Rapido cabs in Delhi-NCR as early as next week.

"At Rapido, we're thrilled to share that our test run in Hyderabad for Rapido Cabs is off to a fantastic start. The city's vibrant market has warmly embraced us, and the positive response is truly heartening. As we navigate our path forward, we are committed to keeping you closely informed about our progress and eagerly anticipate bringing our innovative services to other cities," a Rapido spokesperson was quoted as saying.

Until recently, Rapido customers have been able to hail rides on either a motorbike or a three-wheeled auto rickshaw.

Moreover, the report mentioned that Rapido is looking to collaborate with Gurugram-based Zingbus to incorporate intercity bus ticket booking into its app.

Rapido, which was founded in 2015, now operates in over 100 cities and has over 25 million app downloads. According to its website, the business has over 10 million clients and has completed over 100 million rides.

According to the data available on Tracxn, Rapido has raised $324 million in total. In April last year, the company raised $180 million led by the online food delivery service Swiggy.