The company aims to expand across India by the middle of next year, said Pavan Guntupalli, cofounder of Rapido.
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The platform currently has 1-1.5 lakh cabs and is active in Delhi, Bangalore, and Hyderabad, Guntupalli said. It boasts a fleet of 60,000 cabs in Delhi, predominantly fuelled by CNG.
On October 27, ET reported that the company had been piloting cabs in Hyderabad for a few months and was in an “advanced test stage.” According to a report by Moneycontrol, the platform is also expanding its services to include hyper-local parcel delivery.
According to Guntupalli, Rapido cabs are more affordable and economical compared to all the existing options in the market. The platform offers “the lowest price guaranteed.”
“Operating on this Saas-based platform, we believe Rapido cabs is a revolutionary approach, ensuring transparency and fair value to all our driver partners,” he said during the launch of its cab services.
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The platform will offer zero commission in order to support its drivers. “Our zero commission is not just a business, it’s a commitment to empower all our partners to play a crucial role in making transportation efficient and reliable,” he added.As for electric vehicles, Guntupalli said, “We are constantly electrifying our fleet…We have partnered with multiple EV providers (Zypp, Zemo E-Bike among others) and are trying to electrify our existing two-wheelers and we are going to follow the same partnership approach even in our Rapido cabs to electrify it.”
Guntupalli noted that the platform is operationally profitable and is going to be Ebitda profitable. “Rapido cabs is going to be a profitable business model itself or starting with the break even business model where we don’t charge as well as don’t burn,” he added.
He said within the next 1-1.5 years, Rapido cabs are expected to contribute to 15-20% of the overall revenue.
Founded in 2015, Rapido, known for being one of the first providers of ride-hailing services with two-wheelers, later expanded its offerings to include three-wheelers.
Rapido transports more than one-and-a half million users every day, he said.
In the three-wheeler category, it competes with Uber, Ola, and ONDC-backed Namma Yatri. In the two-wheeler sector, it competes with Ola and Uber in a few cities.
In April 2022, the platform raised $180 million at a valuation of $820 million. The funding round was led by Swiggy, two-wheeler maker TVS Motor, and venture firms West Bridge Capital and Nexus Venture Partners.