Rapido | Acquisition

Product 🏍️

Neha works late and constantly faces long waits for overcrowded buses 🚌 and pricey taxis 🚕 after her shift ends at 8 PM. Every day, she struggles with heavy traffic and limited transport options, leading to delayed commutes. Frustrated, Neha often thinks to herself, “Ye traffic toh jaan le lega, ghar pahuchte-pahuchte raat ho jaati hai. Lagta hai paidal hi chal loon, zyada jaldi pahunch jaungi, par din bhar ke kaam ke baad bilkul energy nahi hoti..”

❌❌❌need not to worry anymore

Because 👋Rapido is here🏍️ to take all your transportation worries away. With the user-friendly app, you can now easily navigate the city while ensuring your safety and convenience even during night time travel.

Rapido🏍️ offers Neha a fast, affordable alternative. With just a few taps on the app 📱, she books a bike taxi that arrives within minutes ⏱️. The bike swiftly navigates through traffic 🚦, helping Neha get home quickly 🏡 without the hassle of waiting for public transport, all at a low cost.

Common Use Cases?

• Office Commuters: Quick rides to and from metro stations or bus stops.
• Short Errands: Affordable transport for nearby tasks.
• Emergency Rides: Fast travel during peak traffic hours.
• College Students: Low-cost rides to class or local spots.

Problems Rapido solved in the early stages?

1. Traffic Congestion: Bikes navigate traffic quickly 🏍️.
2. Safety was of utmost priority.
3. High Costs: Affordable alternative to taxis 🚕.
4. Last-Mile Connectivity: Easy rides from metro to home/office 🚶‍♂️.
5. Slow Public Transport: Fast, convenient option over crowded buses 🚌.
6. Employment: Flexible earning for bike owners.

Product diversification over the period of stages🚀

Rapido has experienced significant growth since its inception in 2015, evolving from a bike taxi service to a multifaceted transportation platform. Here's a concise overview of its journey:

Expansion into New Services

• Parcel Delivery: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rapido diversified its offerings by launching Rapido Box, an on-demand delivery service for essentials like groceries and medicines, utilizing its existing rider network.
• Auto Rickshaw and Cab Services: Following its success in bike taxis, Rapido expanded to include auto rickshaw services in 2020 and introduced cab services in late 2023, further broadening its transportation options.

Current Operations and Future Directions

• Widespread Presence: As of now, Rapido operates in over 150 cities with more than 100 million rides completed, positioning itself as a comprehensive travel solution in India.
• Funding and Valuation: The company has raised substantial funding, including a recent $200 million round that valued it at $1.1 billion💰, achieving unicorn status

Let’s talk Numbers:

• GMV - INR 2520 crore
• Revenue - INR 497 crore in FY23
• App Downloads - 25 million
• Daily Ride Count - 2.5 million
• New Acquired Customer in FY23- 20 Million
• Bike Taxi Coverage - Over 100 cities New Ventures - Auto & Cabs Services - Over 25 Cities & 3 Cities
• FY23 orders - 307 million

Wait, but what are our customers doing, are they actually enjoying it with us?

PMF stage - Check✅

Market Analysis 📈

Before we go into any other details, let’s understand what Rapido is expanding into:

As per the recent study of AJVC Rapido is a leading bike taxi service in India, having pioneered the bike-taxi concept in 2017. The company has rapidly expanded its services to include auto-rickshaws and cab services, currently operating in over 100 cities and completing more than 100 million rides. As of recent reports, Rapido commands a 70% market share in the bike-taxi sector and has made significant strides in the cab market as well

Irrespective of following the traditional way of doing business on cabs and autos, like OLA & UBER, Rapdio has changed the way by building up a subscription model, this has changed the entire industry and hence, OLA and UBER had to shift to this model now. This model reportedly makes earnings more predictable for drivers, appealing to a growing base of users across over 100+ cities

Hence, the breakdown of services at the mature stage has been:

P.S. - Please note that there are multiple other services as well, however, we have picked up the most revenue making services to deep dive

Ride Hailing Market

Let’s understand the TAM, SAM, and SOM of Indian market for each of the segments:

According to Motor Intelligence, the ride-hailing market in India is estimated at a Total Addressable Market (TAM) of approximately $20.61 billion in 2024. With rising urbanization and a growing need for affordable, quick transportation, Rapido is in an ideal position to expand its reach.

Total Addressable Market (TAM): $20.61 billion (including bikes, autos, and cabs), driven by rapid urban growth and the shift toward shared mobility.

Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM): Around $8 billion, which represents urban areas where ride-hailing demand is already high, and Rapido’s services align well with user needs.

Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM): Rapido has a realistic chance of capturing 15-20% of this SAM, meaning $1.5 billion to $2 billion is feasible in the near term through growth strategies in both Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities.

• Why 15-20% chance of SAM?

  1. Strong Brand Recognition

  Rapido is already well-known, especially in the bike taxi segment, with a good customer base in big cities. This familiarity makes it easier for people to choose Rapido over other options.

  2. Unique Focus on Bike Taxis

  Rapido stands out because it focuses on bike taxis, which are faster and more affordable for getting through crowded areas. This sets it apart from companies like Ola and Uber, which mostly use cars.

  3. Big Opportunity in Smaller Cities

  In smaller cities, Rapido’s bike and auto services are popular because they’re cheaper than traditional cabs. These cities are largely untapped by other ride-hailing companies, giving Rapido room to grow.

  4. Affordable Prices and Easy Rides

  Rapido offers cheaper rides than most cab services, which makes it appealing to people who want to save money. Bikes and autos also work well in crowded areas where cars may struggle to get through quickly.

  5. Expanding with More Options

  Rapido has expanded to autos and cabs with a new subscription model for drivers, making it more attractive for people to use the app for different types of rides. This lets users stay in one app for all their travel needs, from bikes to autos to cabs.

  6. Growing Demand for Quick Transport in Cities

  More people are moving to cities, which increases the need for fast, reliable transportation options. Rapido’s services meet this demand well, especially for short, affordable trips.

  7. Rewards Programs Like Rapido Coins

  Rapido Coins and referral programs help keep customers coming back. By allowing Rapido Coins to be used across different ride options (bike, auto, cab), customers are more likely to stick with Rapido.

ICP - Evaluation

Market Analysis 📈

Before we go into any other details, let’s understand what Rapido is expanding into:

As per the recent study of AJVC Rapido is a leading bike taxi service in India, having pioneered the bike-taxi concept in 2017. The company has rapidly expanded its services to include auto-rickshaws and cab services, currently operating in over 100 cities and completing more than 100 million rides. As of recent reports, Rapido commands a 70% market share in the bike-taxi sector and has made significant strides in the cab market as well

Irrespective of following the traditional way of doing business on cabs and autos, like OLA & UBER, Rapdio has changed the way by building up a subscription model, this has changed the entire industry and hence, OLA and UBER had to shift to this model now. This model reportedly makes earnings more predictable for drivers, appealing to a growing base of users across over 100+ cities

Hence, the breakdown of services at the mature stage has been:

P.S. - Please note that there are multiple other services as well, however, we have picked up the most revenue making services for the business

Ride Hailing Market

Let’s understand the TAM, SAM, and SOM of Indian market for each of the segments:

According to Motor Intelligence, the ride-hailing market in India is estimated at a Total Addressable Market (TAM) of approximately ($20.61 billion)~INR 1,70,000 crore in 2024. With rising urbanization and a growing need for affordable, quick transportation, Rapido is in an ideal position to expand its reach.

Total Addressable Market (TAM): $20.61 billion (including bikes, autos, and cabs), driven by rapid urban growth and the shift toward shared mobility.

Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM): Around ~INR 6,300 crore($8 billion), which represents urban areas where ride-hailing demand is already high, and Rapido’s services align well with user needs.

Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM): Rapido has a realistic chance of capturing 15-20% of this SAM, meaning $1.5 billion to $2 billion is feasible in the near term through growth strategies in both Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities.

• Why 15-20% chance of SAM?

  1. Strong Brand Recognition

  Rapido is already well-known, especially in the bike taxi segment, with a good customer base in big cities. This familiarity makes it easier for people to choose Rapido over other options.

  2. Unique Focus on Bike Taxis

  Rapido stands out because it focuses on bike taxis, which are faster and more affordable for getting through crowded areas. This sets it apart from companies like Ola and Uber, which mostly use cars.

  3. Big Opportunity in Smaller Cities

  In smaller cities, Rapido’s bike and auto services are popular because they’re cheaper than traditional cabs. These cities are largely untapped by other ride-hailing companies, giving Rapido room to grow.

  4. Affordable Prices and Easy Rides

  Rapido offers cheaper rides than most cab services, which makes it appealing to people who want to save money. Bikes and autos also work well in crowded areas where cars may struggle to get through quickly.

  5. Expanding with More Options

  Rapido has expanded to autos and cabs with a new subscription model for drivers, making it more attractive for people to use the app for different types of rides. This lets users stay in one app for all their travel needs, from bikes to autos to cabs.

  6. Growing Demand for Quick Transport in Cities

  More people are moving to cities, which increases the need for fast, reliable transportation options. Rapido’s services meet this demand well, especially for short, affordable trips.

  7. Rewards Programs Like Rapido Coins

  Rapido Coins and referral programs help keep customers coming back. By allowing Rapido Coins to be used across different ride options (bike, auto, cab), customers are more likely to stick with Rapido.
  
  NOTE - Industry Benchmarks and New Entrant Patterns
  In mature ride-hailing markets, the leading two or three companies often capture around 70-80% of the market combined. This leaves about 20-30% for other players. As a strong competitor focusing on unique segments (bike taxis and autos), Rapido is well-positioned to secure a significant part of this remaining share. Historically, secondary players with a unique niche or regional focus (like Rapido’s affordable, short-distance rides) can reliably capture 15-20% in a multi-provider market.

ICP - Evaluation

Core Value proposition

1. Speed and Convenience: In bustling cities like Bangalore and Delhi, where traffic congestion is a daily struggle, Rapido offers a quicker alternative to cars and auto-rickshaws.
2. Making it easy for people to get to their destination without needing to drive, find parking, or deal with traffic. It gives users the freedom to do what they want with their travel time, like getting ready for an event, relaxing, or even working. Once they arrive, they can start enjoying their plans right away, without worrying about parking or picking up their car later.

Channel Selection Framework

Channels like Organic and Paid have been been going pretty well for them, however, to really fix on some channels are Product Intergration, Referral, and Content Loops. Hence, we’d be picking these channels to make the most out of it.

According to our user research we have seen that the ICP's who use rapito are very active towards social media apps like Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. Hence creating something which engage audience on Instagram/LinkedIn makes sense.

We can use instagram and linkedIn both to ask the users to share their Rapido experiences and stand a chance to win exciting prizes! These prices can include some exciting things like, Concert Tickets, Event Passes, Discount Coupons, etc.

Asking Users to generate content on our behalf -

(Benefits - Get a discount coupon of INR 500 on Dilijit Dosanjh's concerts)

Share a selfie or video of your Rapido ride and tell us what makes your daily commute awesome!

Tag us and use #RapidoRush

Keep Sharing fun facts on Social media

Keep the Users engaged and keeping them informed on who has won

Real Stories, Real Riders!

Sharing real stories of riders, just like how Zomato has been doing, People tend to share these across and hence, we can play a emotion card claiming the new business model on whatever you pay, it goes to them.

Product Intergration

As per our discussions with the ICP's, they use the Bike rides, Auto rides or Cab rides to fulfill their one of the 3 requirements

1. Reduce the time of travel using Bike Taxi
2. Even though they have Cars, they don't really want to use it very often, why? Because the biggest pain for them is to find a place to park and then retrieving it, additionally, most of the people try to avoid driving in traffic areas.
3. Don’t have a vehicle

For example

Riya 🚗 drives to a popular tech conference in her car. As she reaches the venue, she realizes that the event is packed—cars are everywhere, and people are pouring in. She circles the parking lot multiple times, getting frustrated 😤 as each spot she finds is already taken. Time is ticking ⏰, and she’s still searching for a place to park, worrying she’ll miss the opening keynote.

Meanwhile, Aman has booked a Rapido to a nearby music festival. His cab arrives at the drop-off point right in front of the venue 🎶. He hops out, thanks the driver, and heads straight in, feeling relaxed and ready for the concert. While Riya is still searching for parking, Aman is already mingling with the crowd, enjoying the atmosphere 🎉.

Now, we all know Aman’s a smart guy 😎—he’s all about skipping the stress and booking rides the easy way. But here’s the real question: how do we make sure he’s choosing Rapido and doesn’t get tempted by any other app? 🤔

Well, that’s where our plan comes in! 🧠🚀

Product integration comes in at a stage where the person has actually booked the tickets to the concerts.

The aim here is not to share any coupon, we want the person to actually book the ride right then and there.

How do we do it?

Scenario 1: The event is in the same city

1. Create urgency right after ticket purchase 🎫: Remind them of the hassles—limited parking, time crunch, and extra stress that might make them late for the event! 🚗⏳
2. Offer a simple solution: Show them an option to "Book with Rapido" right then and there. This way, they can schedule a ride for the event day with just a tap.
3. Create a win-win - Ask them to pay a nominal amount to make sure the driver is also aligned for this.

Scenario 2: The event is in a different city

1. Build a little FOMO 🕑: Right after they book the concert ticket, create a reminder about possible travel delays—like missing the flight, train, or bus. Missing a connection means missing the event, after all! ✈️🚉
2. Provide Rapido as the stress-free backup plan: Show them how easy it is to book Rapido now for any last-minute transport when they land. This way, they avoid day-of delays and have more time to enjoy! 🧳🎶
3. Showing 2 options to cover all scenarios -

Option 1: Home to Airport ✈️

Once the concert ticket is booked, prompt them to consider their travel to the airport. Sure, a friend or family member might drop them off—but why not avoid any last-minute coordination stress? 🚗Offer them the option to book Rapido for a smooth, dependable ride from home to the airport.

Option 2: Airport to Hotel or Concert Venue

If they’re arriving from out of town, remind them how convenient Rapido can be to get from the airport to their hotel or straight to the concert! Avoid waiting around for cabs and jump right into the action. Just one tap and they’re good to go, getting them to the event on time and stress-free!

• This is just an example for the use case we discussed above, we can have similar setups with
• • Dineout
  • Book My show
  • Zomaland
  • Paytm Insider, etc.

Referral/Partner Program

For Rapido, we can define two main customer touchpoints:

1. Bike Taxi: Here, captains (bike drivers) are still on a commission model, where they pay a set percentage for each ride.
2. Auto/Cab: This model has changed; instead of paying a commission on every ride, drivers now pay a flat subscription fee to use the app.

The Challenge with Rapido Coins

Rapido Coins were introduced earlier and can currently only be used by customers booking bike rides. This creates a challenge for activating users who prefer autos and cabs, as they can’t use Rapido Coins on those services.

To address this, we’ll need to reintroduce Rapido Coins in a way that benefits all users, allowing them to enjoy rewards and referrals across all services—without affecting drivers. This update will make Rapido Coins valuable for every customer, whether they choose a bike, auto, or cab ride.

Where does the Customer get AHA moments: Completing the rides and giving 5 stars.

Here’s how we can use Rapido Coins to benefit both customers and drivers:

1. New Customer Reward: When a new customer signs up and completes their first ride, they receive 50 Rapido Coins. They can use these coins to get a discount on future rides, giving them a nice incentive to keep using Rapido.
2. Driver Incentive: To support drivers, we’ll also add a 50-rupee coupon to their wallet whenever a customer uses Rapido Coins for a discount. This coupon can be used to help drivers pay their subscription fee.

Why Coupons for Drivers? Offering these coupons helps motivate drivers to accept rides with discounted fares, since they’ll get some support toward their subscription costs. It’s a win-win, encouraging both customers and drivers to keep referring and using Rapido!