How Rapido’s Super App Model Is Taking Shape 

by · Inc42

SUMMARY

  • Rapido is expanding beyond bike taxis into autos, cabs, food delivery and other high-frequency services
  • The expansion can help Rapido increase app usage while monetising its existing rider and driver network across more categories
  • Rapido is using its mobility distribution and low-commission model to build a broader everyday consumer platform
  • Added to Saved Stories in Login

In April 2016, a bike taxi startup barely a few months old persuaded some established names in Indian business to back the idea of sharing a motorcycle ride. Hero MotoCorp’s Pawan Munjal, Google’s Rajan Anandan and People Group founder Anupam Mittal were among the investors in Rapido’s pre-Series A round.

Its founders, Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli and Rishikesh SR, had early evidence that the idea could find takers. The funding would help them take the service to more cities and build the team.

The trio’s earlier logistics venture, Karrier, had shut down. This time, the proposition was simple. A motorcycle had a spare seat, its owner could use some extra income, and someone nearby needed an affordable ride. Rapido’s app would bring them together, handling bookings, fare estimates, matching and tracking. The founders could build a transport business without buying the vehicles themselves.

More than a decade after its founding, that spare seat has become the starting point for a much larger business, putting the mobility unicorn on the super app track. Rapido says it now facilitates over 5 Mn rides a day, operates across more than 400 cities and supports over 9 Mn livelihoods. In April 2025, Sanka had separately put its network at 2 Mn transacting bike taxi partners every month.