Rapido Becomes a Unicorn with Fresh $120M Funding

- Rapido has raised $200 Mn in a Series E funding round led by WestBridge Capital, pushing its valuation to $1.1 Bn. - The funds will be used to expand Rapido's new four-wheeler taxi service, aiming to compete with Ola and Uber. - The startup has seen its revenue grow more than 12 times, according to cofounder Aravind Sanka. - Rapido is currently handling 2.3-2.5 Mn orders daily, with 7% from B2B operations, including food delivery for Swiggy. - Despite the growth, Rapido's net loss widened to INR 674.5 Cr in FY23 from INR 439 Cr the previous year. Source: [Inc42](https://inc42.com/buzz/rapido-claims-unicorn-tag-with-200-mn-funding-from-westbridge-others/)

So, what developments can we see with this?

- Invesco valued its 28,844 shares of Swiggy at $219.2 Mn as of April 2024, translating to a $12.3 Bn valuation for the foodtech company. - Pine Labs' valuation was pegged at $3.5 Bn at the end of April 2024, down from $3.8 Bn in January 2024. - The valuation cuts come as Swiggy prepares for its $1.25 Bn IPO, having filed its draft red herring prospectus with SEBI. - Despite the cuts, Swiggy's latest valuation is still 15% higher than its $10.7 Bn valuation during its $700 Mn decacorn round in 2022. - The valuation adjustments follow a period of funding challenges and losses for Indian unicorns, though investor sentiment has recently improved. Source: Inc42

After krutrim, perfios, Porter is the 3rd startup which has turned unicorn 🦄 It has solved some problem for sure unlike krutrim I remember, when I moved to blr...it was a life saviour. Such startups deserve to be an unicorn 🦄

Let's ignore what's wrong with startups, keep this an optimistic thread. Which startups make you excited about their future? The ones that have cracked product, GTM, model, or something else. Name the best Indian startups :)

I am at my wits end. It takes 20-25 minutes just to get someone to accept my booking only for them to cancel. Almost roz ka hai! Bluesmart mein kabhi slots hi nahi milte! Ola, Uber, Rapido toh 20-25 min tak search hi karta rehta hai. Namma Yatri toh aur bhi hopeless hai! Please koi hack batao 🥲🙏🏻

Krutrim has become a unicorn after securing $50m in funding, making it the first Indian AI startup with a valuation of $1bn. It seems like an extremely overvalued company being built yet again. Thoughts?

Ola seems to have deeply deprioritized the cabs business. I've heard it's profitable now for them (makes them cash), but seems like they're not scaling anymore.

I had heard Waycool was also talking to raise at unicorn valuation, but they've fired like 300 people on Monday, so that's pretty uncertain. What to make of Zepto, though?