Rapido Founder's Podcast:    • Building India’s Largest Bike Taxi Ap...  

00:00 Intro
01:30 Origin Story
05:10 Early Growth Days
08:50 Building for Drivers
11:05 Expanding to Autos and Cabs
16:22 Challenges

Rapido's story is a testament to how a lean, locally tailored business approach can disrupt even the most saturated and competitive markets. In a landscape dominated by giants like Ola and Uber, Rapido carved its niche by identifying India’s deep reliance on twowheelers. Recognizing that 75% of vehicles in India are twowheelers, Rapido's founders took a unique route—creating a biketaxi service that aligned perfectly with the Indian market's economic realities.

Rapido's origins trace back to 2014 when it was founded by three friends who initially started an intracity logistics business called TheKarrier. However, the founders realized that B2B logistics lacked the rapid growth potential they were seeking. During their logistics operations, they noticed that twowheelers were the backbone of India’s transport system. Around the same time, India’s ridehailing sector was booming, with Ola reaching unicorn status and Uber entering the market. This combination of insights—India’s reliance on twowheelers and the surging ridehailing industry—pushed them to pivot towards a biketaxi business, leading to the birth of Rapido.

In its early days, Rapido faced significant challenges, particularly with raising capital. The founders were rejected by 75 venture capital firms, with investors doubting the viability of a biketaxi model and fearing competition from Ola and Uber. Moreover, concerns about safety and user acceptance, particularly for women, added to the skepticism. Despite these hurdles, Rapido persevered and eventually secured funding from angel investors, including prominent figures like Pawan Munjal of Hero MotorCorp, whose advice to focus on Tier 2 and 3 cities proved crucial for Rapido’s growth.

Rapido’s strategy of targeting lowertier cities where Ola and Uber had less presence allowed them to capture a significant share of the market. Offering cheaper and faster rides, with an average ticket price of just 6065 rupees compared to Ola’s 180200 rupees, Rapido positioned itself as a costeffective and quick solution for millions of Indian commuters. Additionally, by focusing on the biketaxi segment, Rapido avoided direct competition with its larger rivals and scaled rapidly, going from 500 rides a day in 2016 to 16.5 lakh rides by 2024.

One of Rapido's key strengths is its drivercentric approach. Unlike Ola and Uber, which initially offered high incentives only to later cut driver earnings, Rapido built a more sustainable model, promoting itself as a side gig for bike owners rather than a primary income source. It offered instant payments, allowing drivers to collect fares directly from customers and pay a smaller commission of 15%. This fostered greater trust and satisfaction among drivers. Rapido also ventured into new business avenues, such as deliveries during offpeak hours, partnering with companies like Swiggy and potentially Zepto, ensuring additional income streams for its driver partners.

Despite its successes, Rapido faces significant challenges. These include safety concerns, a lenient driver onboarding process, regulatory issues related to licensing, and uncertainties around the sustainability of its fixedpayment model for drivers. As Rapido continues to grow, addressing these challenges will be critical for its longterm success in an increasingly competitive market.

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