Reports suggest the Chinese technology major Xiaomi may take an interest and make an investment in the startup. Meanwhile the positive development from the side of Rapido is that it has been progressing very fast and its valuation has now crossed $300 million and may touch $350 million even. Furthermore this would enable it to stretch this funding to $100 million even. To place this in perspective, the company had raised it last funding of $55 million on a valuation of $150 million.
Perhaps the valuation has doubled in the interim and the reasons for this are not far to seek. Rapido has been able to scale up its operations. It is now present in 80-90 cities in india offering over 5 million rides per day. This figure stood at just 2.2 million rides per day just six months before. Apparently Xiaomi’s founder Lei Jun has floated an investment arm Shunwei capital and it is possible the investment in Rapido may be picked up by both Xiaomi and Shunwei. There is no official confirmation on this development either from Xiaomi or from Rapido.
Moreover on the financial side, Rapido has not started making profits but it is well on its way to becoming profitable. When offering ride on its bikes at ₹10-11 per kilometer, Rapido is relying on the huge 210 million two-wheeler license holding people in the country to patronize its bike taxi hiring business. The company is trying to expand into the interior markets in the country where it sees more potential for its business.
