Rapido becomes unicorn with $120 million fresh funding from WestBridge

Rapido has become a unicorn as the ride-hailing startup raised around $120 million ( ₹1,000 crore) in its latest Series E funding round led by its existing investor WestBridge Capital. This comes as Rapido may expand its auto and cab offerings in newer cities across India.
A unicorn means a privately owned startup valued at over $1 billion and Rapido which closely competes with players like Ola, Uber and Namma Yatri intends to use the new funding to “develop their tech stack and expand in the newer markets which was previously dominated by Ola and Uber”, Moneycontrol reported citing a venture capital investor in the know.

Additionally, Economic Times reported citing people aware of the matter that Rapido is likely to raise another $20 million from global investors. The source told the outlet, “A US-based family office and a UK-based fund are in talks to pick up stakes in the company,” one of the persons said.
Rapido was founded in 2015 by Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli and Rishikesh SR. From being an auto and bike taxi aggregator, the company later ventured into cabs. Earlier in April 22, Rapido raised $180 million in a Series D round led by Swiggy and joined by TVS Motor Company, Westbridge, Shell Ventures and Nexus Ventures.
Rapido is the third to become a unicorn this year after Perfios and Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal’s Krutrim AI turned unicorns earlier. In 2023, there were only two new unicorns—Zepto and InCred Wealth.