Journal of Management Research and Analysis 2021;8(1):44–50

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Journal of Management Research and Analysis

Journal homepage: https://www.jmra.in/

Case Report
A case study on Rapido: India’s largest online bike service provider

Ashok Kumar Panigrahi1, *, Manan Darda2 , Ishtiaque Ahmed3

1 Dept. of Technology Management, Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Shirpur, Dhule, Maharashtra, India
2 Dept. of Extc, Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Shirpur, Dhule, Maharashtra, India
3 Dept. of Extc, Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Shirpur, Dhule, Maharashtra, India

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Article history: Rapido is the bike taxi service provider, which connects travellers to drivers for short distance drive. It
Received 30-01-2021 is fundamentally a bike taxi form of Uber, a lot less expensive and more helpful in rush hour traffic as
Accepted 25-02-2021 monstrous as Bengaluru’s. India’s biggest Bike Taxi service provider and accessible more than 11 urban
Available online 02-05-2021 areas and most individuals need every day travel simpler, more secure, and moderate, there are more
motivations to pick Rapido Rides and reach on time with low fares and efficiently. Founded by IIT grad
Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli, and Rishikesh SR in November 2015, and Investors such as former
Keywords:
Google India Head RajanAnandan and Pawan Munjal Of Hero MotoCorp have stakes in Rapido. Rapido
Rapido
competes with the other organisation on least fares and give promotion code to all clients to get more
Bike Taxi discount on their cost and get more advantages by Rapido. It likewise gives an occasion for individuals
Traffic with a bike (with a proper driving permit) to turn into a rider on the platform and bring in extra additional
Promotion code
cash in their extra time. Their definitive vision is to innovate consistent commuting for all, directly at your
doorstep. Joining top ability, problematic advancements, and development.

© This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

1. Introduction
Rapido is an Indian online bike taxi organisation based in
Bengaluru, India, and was established in 2015. It works
in more than 90+ urban areas the nation over and has the
vision to settle last-mile network issues. In September 2018,
reports were that this bike taxi start-up has more than 15,000
enrolled riders, with normal rides of 30,000 every day 1 . In
2019, Rapido fellow founder Aravind Sanka asserted that
the organisation has made more than 500,000 positions in
India. In November 2019, the organisation professed to have
one crore, enlisted clients.
It is likewise exceptionally safe to travel, even in the
evening as everything can be followed on the web. Finally,
Fig. 1: Rapido Logo, Source: RAPIDO
it is only a two-wheeler taxi where a rider will get you
from the required point and drop to the required point. As
indicated by the group, 85% of its administrations are from
repeated clients and 10% of them are women. Rapido has
* Corresponding author. an enormous extent of development in the current market,
E-mail address: [email protected] (A. K. Panigrahi). as on-request bike taxi administration is by all accounts a

https://doi.org/10.18231/j.jmra.2021.011
2394-2762/© 2021 Innovative Publication, All rights reserved. 44
 Panigrahi, Darda and Ahmed / Journal of Management Research and Analysis 2021;8(1):44–50 45

fascinating model. The factor that the organisation follows was consistent for captains. They boarded through calls,
severe checks and exacting punishments to guarantee safe WhatsApp, or the Rapido application, where the driver
transportation likewise makes it more dependable. shares subtleties. This factor drove a drop in the feet on the
As of now, Rapido is India’s biggest bike taxi platform road expected on-board Captains. A concentrated captain
working in 50 urban communities and serving over 200 K care focus guaranteed that boarding happened on the web.
rides every day. The bike taxi is metropolitan mobility’s However, in the territory of Karnataka, these online
next large thing, and this bike taxi start-up is ready to bike taxi provider organisations are confronting plenty of
scale to 1 million rides for every day in 2020. They have issues. Prior, for a half year, Ola taxis were prohibited
solid initiative, strong financing, and a group of enthusiastic and their permit was suspended. A substantial fine of
individuals. Traffic is difficult we would all be able to approximately 15 lakhs was forced on them. Presently,
identify with and should tackle. Four-wheeler ride hailing the state government is hoping to boycott this application.
is immersed, and two-wheeler is in core interest. Rapido is As indicated by Gyanendra Kumar, joint commissioner
standing out and making syndication like status in this space (Enforcement), the public authority has held onto more than
where different players are battling or tumbling off. 170 Rapido bike taxis by Friday (5 April 2019).
The COT, Narendra Holkar added to these reports that
2. Market Need notice with the direction of halting bike taxi services
in the states. This notice has been drafted to Rapido’s
As the city works back from COVID-19, there is a administrative centre. According to the transport department
requesting requirement for an open, rational, and safe of the state, they have presented letters on both Ola and
regular commute choice. A 10-km separation for the most Rapido to stop their bike taxi administrations as according
part needs more than hours to complete in Bengaluru to a report in July 2018. The number of lives lost in street
through the development of the on-request taxi and auto- mishaps in the city arrived at 3250, while the number of bike
rickshaw welcoming administrations with alternatives like mishaps was at its maximum. The state transport division
pool have made day by day drive modest, four-wheeler rides has still not consented to allow these organisations the
are a long issue. permit to run bikes as a taxi.
To clarify the time issue trapped with a step-by-step After confronting such issues in the state for working as
drive to the workplace, bike taxis have increased over the a bike taxi service provider, Ani technologies, the parent
past years in metropolitan territories such as Bengaluru and organisation of ola, documented an appeal in the high court
Gurugram. of Karnataka against the state transport department for a
Regardless, no couple of such bike taxi start-ups have similar reason.
did suffer once heavyweights – only some of the new
organisations in the bike taxi district are set up to suffer and
4. Competitors
thrive. One such set out is Rapido.
The pervasiveness of motorbikes causes it to appear as The top 10 competitors in Rapido’s forceful set are
a solution to India’s interminable issues of clogged streets, Bounce, VOGO, Bikxie, Snapbikes, Yulu, Drivezy, ONN,
constrained open vehicles, and poor last-mile network. WHEELSTREET, RB (Royal Brothers), and Book My
Furthermore, it’s likewise the motivation behind why a huge adv.com. Joined they have made over 386.2M between
number of bike taxi aggregators have been overflowing their surveyed 827 delegates. Rapido’s income is positioned
the Indian market, following the accomplishment of such seventh among its top 10 rivals normal 2.9M. Rapido has
administrations like Go-Jek and Grab in business sectors 486 representatives and is positioned first among its main
across Southeast Asia. 10 rivals 2 . The main 10 contenders average 131.

3. Challenges 5. Funding
Probably the greatest test that Rapido confronted was Bike taxi start-up Rapido has become financial support
changing the client’s perceptions. "Many individuals were from several organisations, including former Google India
vigilant that bike rides were unsafe. So, we dispatched head RajanAnandan and Hero MotoCorp Executive Pawan
protection from day zero. The application was in-worked Munjal. The assets were conveyed for Rapido’s venture into
with a system to track the speed of the captain. He would be different urban areas and working up the group.
deactivated if by any chance he went past a specific speed," In April 2017, Rapido brought an undisclosed sum in
Aravind says. There are situations where the consumer its pre-Series A financing, upheld by Hero MotoCorp Ltd
would not get protective helmets or have grievances about executive Pawan Munjal and Google India supervising
the captain. Chief RajanAnandan. By 2018, the association has brought
Before that, Aravind uncovers they did a tonne of actions $6 million up in 2 changes and was obtaining a $1.5 million
on the Captain application to ensure that on boarding pay reliably. It encouraged the latest round of financing in
46 Panigrahi, Darda and Ahmed / Journal of Management Research and Analysis 2021;8(1):44–50

Table 1: Competitors of Rapido

Rank Company Leadership CEO Score Employees Total Funding
RAPIDO Aravind Sanka Co-Founder & 88/100 486 $65.3M
CEO
1 BOUNCE Vivekananda Hallekere 88/100 105 $100.2M
Co-Founder & CEO
2 VOGO Anand Ayyadurai Co-Founder 100/100 200 $129M
& CEO
3 BIKXIE Mohit Sharma Co-Founder & 81/100 8 $315.2K
CEO
4 ONN Namit Jain Co-Founder & CEO 88/100 22 $692K
5 WHEEL Pranay Shrivastava 80/100 75 $620K
STREET Co-Founder & CEO
6 YULU Amit Gupta Co-Founder & 68/100 Input $7M
CEO
7 DRIVEZY Ashwarya Singh Co-Founder & 66/100 200 $148.4M
CEO
8 SNAPBIKES Aditya Puglia Founder 71/100 56 –
9 ROYAL Abhishek Shekar Co-Founder – 100 –
BROTHER & CEO
10 BOOK MY Rekha Yadav Co-Founder 82/100 61 –
SOURCE: https://www.owler.com/company/rapido

August 2019. Furthermore, it brought over $58 million up

in financing driven by Westbridge Capital. Rapido should
spend this money on specific progression and hope to show
up at 100 huge metropolitan networks in India soon.
All out Funding $82.2M and Investors of RAPIDO-The
Two-Wheeler Cab:
1. Pawan Munjal
2. Ka Wing Kevin Kwong
Fig. 2: Funding Graph SOURCE: https://www.owler.com/compa
3. RajanAnandan
ny/rapido
4. BAce Capital
5. WestBridge Capital
6. Skycatcher
7. Integrated Capital The application permits its clients to book a ride after
8. India Technology Fund which a rider known as Captain would show up at the user’s
9. Thompson Taraz Managers area. The passage of each ride relies on the number of
10. AdvantEdge Founders kilometres the user should go. The one’s the individuals
11. Nexus Venture Partners who should proceed as captains, should enrol themselves
12. Astarc Ventures through the Rapido captain application and get approved by
presenting the necessary records as referenced previously.
To date, Rapido has raised complete financing of Captains can use anything like bikes or scooters 3 . Yet, the
INR 558 crore from different organisations. A portion condition is that the vehicles be a bike and can’t be a lot
of its significant benefactors incorporates WestBridge more established than 2010.
AIF, Konark Trust, Saber Investment, Nexus Ventures, Rapido is the solution India needs. It centres around
Skycatcher LLC, and Integrated Capital, among others. In moderate ness. A taxi or Auto-Rickshaw is only wasteful
August 2019, Rapido shut its Series B financing round at for a single traveller. Their plan of action is like that of Uber
INR 390.11 crore drove by WestBridge Capital. and Ola. They give a stage, for which they charge a level of
the toll sum.
6. Business Model
As indicated by government insights, the complete
The plan of action of Rapido Bike Taxi predominantly number of enrolled bikes in India is around 154 million,
intends to give the best and the most fulfilling which is multiple times the absolute number of 4-wheelers 4 .
administrations to its clients. They do it by offering We accept bike ride-sharing platform can be the best answer
sensible and safe rides to their clients. to tackle our drive issues. Bike ride-sharing can be the
 Panigrahi, Darda and Ahmed / Journal of Management Research and Analysis 2021;8(1):44–50 47

Table 2: Funding Table

Date Transaction Name Number of Investors Money Raised Lead Investors
Aug 18, 2019 Series B Rapido 6 $55M Westbridge Capital
Apr 23, 2019 Series A Rapido 8 $11.2M Nexus Venture Partners
Jan 24, 2019 Series A Rapido 5 |526.7M Astarc Ventures,
IndiaTechnology Fund,
Integrated Capital, Ka Wing
Kevin Kwong, Skycatcher
Mar 01, 2018 Series A- Rapido 1 S4M Skycatcher
Nov 21, 2017 Venture Round Rapido 3 |21.4M Skycatcher,Thompson Taraz
Managers
Sep 25, 2017 Venture Round Rapido 2 |27.5M -
Oct 19, 2016 Seed Round Rapido 9 - AdvantEdge Founders
01 May 2015 Seed Round Rapido 1 $22.2K -
SOURCE: https://www.crunchbase.com/organisation/rapido/company_financials

eventual fate of transport in India.

Fig. 3: Business Model, SOURCE: https://onlineseoblog.com/star

t-up-business-model-analysis/bike-rental-sharing-start-ups-succes
s-stories/differentiate-between-rapido-bounce-bike-rental/

For Users - We are an affordable, quicker, and

dependable drive alternative around. We give protection on
each ride to our users.
For Riders- We turn out an additional revenue source
for a bike proprietor who is voyaging alone. We do have
insurance approaches for our riders moreover.

7. Working
It is an application where individuals can book bikes at
truly sensible costs. It gives an enormous occasion to
the 2-wheeler proprietors (with legitimate driving permit)
to procure a sum in their extra time. This application
even prevailing as individuals in metropolitans were burnt
out on booking taxis for more modest separations at
higher rates. This application has its quality enlisted in
7 unique states and many significant urban communities, Fig. 4: App Interface, Source: https://www.thehindu.com/life-and
including Bengaluru, Gurugram, Hyderabad. Different -style/as-urban-spaces-struggle-with-traffic-rapido-biketaxi-hopes
urban communities such as Vizag, Vijayawada, Madurai, -to-make-passenger-experience-quick-comfortable-and-affordabl
Coimbatore, Indore, Guwahati, and Patna 5 . e-inthe-city/article24173539.ece
On the commuter side, Rapido works like some other
taxi-booking application. To book a ride, clients should
join and enter the pickup and destination points. When the
booking is affirmed, the name, photograph, and bike number
48 Panigrahi, Darda and Ahmed / Journal of Management Research and Analysis 2021;8(1):44–50

of the Captain are imparted to them 6 . Workers can book in the rush hour gridlock when contrasted with the taxis.
Rapido rides between 6 am and 12 PM. The base toll is Rs Its commanders are prepared experts and the beginning up
15, and for each extra km, Rs 3 is charged. likewise gives protection on all rides.
Recently, Rapido dispatched a unique feature for visually
challenged. It says 80-100 visually challenged individuals 9. Business Logistics
use the application "consistently at better places to arrive at
their objections". Henceforth, the new highlights are pointed The Rapido application empowers drivers to get clients
towards "making their movements more agreeable". rapidly – an extraordinary piece of the time, some spots
in the extent of 2 and 5 min. When in doubt, the decision
8. Improving User Experiences cognisance for purchasers and drivers passed by Google
Maps Platform got together with Firebase, has helped
In 2017, Google Cloud Premier Partner and Google Maps control Rapido to solid headway.
Platform Partner Searce helped Rapido meet the needs Bengaluru-based bike taxi start-up has gained Hyderabad
of taxi service and their customers. The pursuit gave a rival GetBike to enter the business-to-business section, the
specific and fundamental game plan that affected Rapido to 2 organisations’ chiefs told VCCircle. Rapido co-founder
require supported situation of the unlimited interface calls, Aravind Sanka and GetBike chairperson Shravya Reddy
24/7 support, and mentioning SLAs offered through Google affirmed the improvement to VCCircle. Reddy will move
Maps API Premium prepare for and intrigue. to Bengaluru as a feature of the arrangement. The chiefs did
Searce helped Rapido improve its API and segment calls not unveil the monetary subtleties of the arrangement.
with the Roads API to free mixes in GPS readings got VCCircle had first revealed in September a year ago that
from the handsets of bike taxi owners. At long last, Searce both the organisations were in talks for an arrangement.
helped Rapido send the base of activities minimal and web Presently, VCCircle discovers that Rapido, run by Roppen
progress stage to change the mode course of action of Transportation Services Private Ltd is in talks with different
the API keys, as opposed to keeping up a comprehensive financial specialists for its next round of gathering pledges.
manual methodology. This move-in like way decreased the GetBike has a tonne of mastery in B2B logistics and that
probability of any issues creating if Rapido set to begin Reddy will drive its general B2B activity. Sharing Economy,
different comes or consolidate stores of licences or join regardless of whether business to consumer (B2C) or client
Google. to see is on an expansion that helps the explanation for the
property. Rapido’s Captain’s region unit existing bike house
proprietors UN office comprehend town well and intend
to accomplish business and monetary profit by riding it
monetarily. At the point when you take a bike taxi, you are
not exclusively causative to the sharing Economy anyway
conjointly benefitting from it.
Rapido has been working conveyance services for online
business organisations for near 2 years now specifically
Zomato, Myntra, Swiggy, EatFit. SuprDaily, 24*7 Stores.
Fig. 5: Effective services, https://medium.com/@rapidobike/a-rap In the lockdown, they boosted up the current Rapido-
ido-bike-ride-with-an-umbrella-meet-this-innovative-57-yr-old-ca Delivery administrations to accommodate the conveyance
ptain-d2359d1dcac2 of basic merchandise and joined forces with major online
organisations like Big Bazaar, Big Basket, and Spencer’s for
Finally, Rapido is a maltreatment picture game plan the conveyance of basic products.
through the Vision PC based information association
to explore rider’s documentation, for example, driving 10. How rapido is different from competitors - ola bike
licence 7 . This draws in the business to check subtleties such and ubermoto?
as names, territories, and end dates with high precision -
an extended rate in a nation where each state has its award Industry appraisals recommend that India have more than
model. Rapido is good to go to dispatch uncommon and 120 million bikes concerning for a great deal of bike’s
improved highlights for the outwardly provoked workers property holder’s territory unit either at relaxation or low
to make their movements increasingly agreeable. It has maintenance. "Our appearance is to use the overarching
chipped away at making a streamlined and easy to vehicles and assemble work for low maintenance. Our item
understand the adaptation of application for their simple draws to a limited extent clock and rather gives an extra
utilisation. adaptability to the Captains”, clarifies Sanka.
Clients, on a normal, spare 60 percent-70 percent of the Captains are not average cabbies who take a shot at a full-
expenses and burn through 30 percent-40 percent less time time premise, however, anybody and every individual have
 Panigrahi, Darda and Ahmed / Journal of Management Research and Analysis 2021;8(1):44–50 49

a bike with the goal to bring in cash. Sanka claims that Ola
and Uber do not zero in much on seasonal workers. "They
will, in general, make flexibly select by financing bikes," he
adds. This feature is one of the significant differentiators for
Rapido over others including Uber and Ola.
The concealed incredible thing about Rapido lies in
anyway riders square measure their boss while unfocused
to fulfil. They ride once and the most extreme sum as they
need. They conjointly dispatched an activity any place riders
will stroll in to pick bistros/cafés for a quick beverage or bite Fig. 7: Rapido Growth Graph, SOURCE: https://yourstory.com/2
to refuel before contacting the street. It’s ideal to imagine 020/03/product-roadmap-bike-sharing-start-up-rapido-strategy-pr
firms that rise above what they totally ought to do and take ofitability
care of their kin! One will book a bike ride through an online
mobile application for voyaging solo.

the initial 2-3 months after COVID hit the nation, and
individuals were house arrested inside the 4 walls of their
homes. With it, portability arrived at a total stop.
Nevertheless, it observed a sign of hope in June and July
as 25% of its business skipped back. One reason behind
hand this interest was that individuals began to stay away
from public places. Albeit, according to Rapido stats, 80%
of India’s population does not own private care or motorbike
and because of the pandemic, they required a protected
and safe drive. This situation introduced an open door in
affliction for Rapido.
Fig. 6: The Advantage over other services, SOURCE: https://isic.
co.in/discounts/india/rapido/6418/ Clarifying why the brand’s interest returned, Guntupalli,
co-founder, Rapido, stated, "People developed mindful that
bike taxis are a more open and customised route for an intra-
city commute. The customers have a bit of leeway of less
11. Accomplishments
introduction to any contamination because of their restricted
1. The Rapido application becomes celebrated and collaboration with the Captain (driver of Rapido) and fewer
arrived at 1 million happy users. Having more than touchpoints."
1 Lakh bike drivers and application was advanced to
The bike taxi start-up company was developing at
book quickly and exact.
approximately 15% each month for the most recent 3 years
2. Rapido launched a Helmet Awareness Campaign
before the pandemic-imbued lockdown hit India. It likewise
3. Rapido takes the spotlight at famous cooperate spaces
multiplied its quality from 50 urban areas to 100 out of a
in Gurugram.
half year.
4. Rapido reveals its Power Pass Subscription
Programme. With the membership, customers Post lockdown, it needed to move its plan of action
can profit from tremendous discounts on the entirety from offering two-wheelers and navigates from buyers
of their rides. to merchants. Approximately 92% of its business was
5. Rapido founders make it Forbes 30 under 30. generated from bike and taxi models and the rest 8% came
6. Rapido hits the 10 million download mark on the Play from logistics 8 . Presently, 30% of its absolute business is
Store. being generated from logistics and the rest 70% from bike
7. Achieved 25% recovery in the business and aims for taxis. Thus, it chose to rotate its attention on quickening
1.5x growth over the next year post lockdown. the current logistics business plan of action by following a
couple of activities, for example, conveying basics at home,
supporting the public authority to determine flexibly chain
12. Post Lockdown Scenario difficulties, and so on.
The lockdown affected most organisations over the globe. To pick up its users’ trust in an unpredictable market,
Some came to a halt and some figured out by what means Rapido presented Safety Shields that helped people keep
to develop with the evolving tides. Local start-up Rapido, up a protected good way from the Captain (Driver of the
a Bike Taxi service provider, saw its income plummet in Rapido).
50 Panigrahi, Darda and Ahmed / Journal of Management Research and Analysis 2021;8(1):44–50

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imaginative issues. At the point when odd-even guidelines
were forced it offered complimentary lifts to Delhi workers.
With Rapido, one necessity not to stress. The individual can Author biography
rather appreciate bothering free drive at Rapido speed.
Ashok Kumar Panigrahi, Associate Professor
14. Source of Funding
Manan Darda, Student
None.
Ishtiaque Ahmed, Student

15. Conflict of Interest

None. Cite this article: Panigrahi AK, Darda M, Ahmed I. A case study on
Rapido: India’s largest online bike service provider. J Manag Res Anal
2021;8(1):44-50.