Rapido Joins Unicorn Club with $200 Mn Funding

So, what developments can we see with this?

- Rapido, the bike-taxi startup, has reached a $1 billion valuation, becoming the latest Indian unicorn after securing $120 million in a Series E funding round led by WestBridge Capital. - The new funding highlights Rapido's growing influence in India's mobility sector, challenging the dominance of Uber and Ola, and aiding Swiggy in its competition against Zomato in the food delivery market. - Rapido's focus on two-wheeler transportation has allowed it to overcome challenges faced by traditional cab services, leveraging the widespread use of motorcycles and scooters in India's congested cities. - Swiggy, which led Rapido's previous funding round, has found a valuable delivery partner in Rapido, enhancing work opportunities for Rapido's drivers and planning to increase its stake post-IPO. - Rapido's latest funding round also saw participation from Khazanah, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, marking it as the third Indian startup to achieve unicorn status this year, following Perfios and Krutrim. Source: Techcrunch

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 :)

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 🦄

I travel regularly, and today prices are 20 rupees higher for 8 kms on all the apps: Uber, Ola, Namma Yatri, and Rapido.

- 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

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 🥲🙏🏻

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.