Rapido is an Indian ride-hailing service, which primarily operates as a bike taxi aggregator. Its offerings also include

auto rickshaw An auto rickshaw is a motorized version of the pulled rickshaw or cycle rickshaw. Most have three wheels and do not tilt. They are known by many other terms in various countries, including three-wheeler, Adaidaita Sahu, Keke-napep, Maruwa, auto, ...

and

taxicab A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

hailing,

parcel delivery Package delivery, or parcel delivery, is the delivery of shipping containers, parcels, or high-value mail in single shipments. The service is provided by most postal systems, express mail, private courier companies, and less-than-truckload shipp ...

, and

third-party logistics Third-party logistics (abbreviated as 3PL, or TPL) is an organization's long-term commitment of outsourcing its distribution services to third-party logistics businesses. Third-party logistics providers typically specialize in integrated opera ...

services. Founded in 2015, the company is based in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

and operates in over 100 cities, but has run into legal troubles in several locations where bike taxis are not legal. Rapido raised $200 million in funding led by WestBridge; valuation hits $1.1 billion

History

The company was founded in 2015 as theKarrier by two IIT alumni and a PESU alumni – Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli, and SR Rishikesh. In September 2018, reports were that Rapido has over 15,000 registered riders, with an average rides of 30,000 per day. Subsequently,

Hero MotoCorp Hero MotoCorp Limited is an Indian multinational motorcycle and scooter manufacturer headquartered in Delhi. It has a market share of about 30% in the Indian two-wheeler industry. The Munjal family, with its 34.75% stake, is the biggest shar ...

chairman Pawan Munjal and former

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

India head Rajan Anandan picked up stakes in the company. In 2019, Rapido co-founder Aravind Sanka claimed that the company has created more than 500,000 jobs in India. In November 2019, the company claimed to have 1 crore registered users. After the breakout of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Rapido expanded its operations in logistics, providing last-mile delivery of goods for local businesses and e-commerce companies. In October 2020, Rapido launched on-demand

hailing services. In April 2022, the company received $180 million in a funding round led by

Swiggy Swiggy Limited is an Indian online food ordering and delivery company. Founded in 2014, Swiggy is headquartered in Bengaluru and operates in more than 580 Indian cities, Besides food delivery, the platform also provides quick commerce servic ...

, raising the company's valuation to $830 million. The Series D round of funding also saw participation of

TVS Motor Company TVS Motor Company is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Chennai. It is the third-largest motorcycle company in India by revenue. The company has annual sales of three million units and an ...

, Westbridge, Shell Ventures, and Nexus Ventures. In 2023, Rapido introduced

hailing on its app. In September 2024, Rapido became a

unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since Classical antiquity, antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn (anatomy), horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unico ...

after raising $200 million in Series E at a $1.1 billion valuation. In February 2025, it raised Rs 250 crore ($30 million) from Prosus at the same valuation. This funding, an extension of the Series E round, focuses on expanding operations, with Prosus acquiring shares via secondary transactions for early investors and employees to exit.

Business model

The Rapido app allows the user to book a ride, after which a rider (called "Captain") arrives at the location. The fare includes a base fare of 20 in addition to 3 for every kilometer of the ride. The "Captains" need to register through the Rapido-Captain app and get validated by submitting the required documents. They can use motorcycles, scooters, or e-bikes, but the vehicle cannot be older than 2010.

Legal issues

Rapido has run into legal troubles in various cities. In October 2018, several bikes were seized in

Coimbatore Coimbatore (Tamil: kōyamputtūr, ), also known as Kovai (), is one of the major Metropolitan cities of India, metropolitan cities in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyy ...

as Rapido was operating without a permit from the transport department. In July 2019,

Madras High Court The High Court of Judicature at Madras is a High Courts of India, High Court located in Chennai, India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. It is one of ...

banned Rapido's operations across

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, while the Rapido

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application was removed from the

App Store An app store, also called an app marketplace or app catalog, is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not i ...

for violating local laws. In August 2019, the court lifted the ban and allowed the company to resume services in the state until the state government framed new regulations for bike taxi services. In February 2019, more than 200 bike taxis belonging to Rapido and

Ola Cabs Ola Consumer, formerly Ola Cabs, is an Indian transportation company that provides ride-hailing services and operates other business verticals such as financial services and cloud kitchens. It is headquartered in Bangalore, and operates in 2 ...

were seized in

as the state transport department declared bike taxis to be illegal. In April 2019, more than 170 Rapido bikes were impounded and an investigation was launched against Rapido by the city cyber crime police. Despite the ban, the company was reported to be illegally operating in Bangalore, with Rapido Captains disguised as food delivery executives. In February 2020, Rapido was banned across

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

, after the transport department found that the company was operating without commercial license or permit from the DTO. In October 2020, shortly after it commenced operations in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, the city's transport authorities asked the company to stop its services as it was operating without the government's permission. In January 2022, RTO officials in Bangalore seized over 120 Rapido bikes, after receiving complaints from the city's cab and auto rickshaw unions. In February 2022,

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

RTO officials seized 65 motorbikes belonging to Rapido riders, declaring bike taxi operations to be illegal in the state of Maharashtra.

References

{{reflist 2015 establishments in Karnataka Online companies of India Indian companies established in 2015 Companies based in Bengaluru Ridesharing companies of India