Hong Kong investment firm leads funding in Rapido

Bike taxi startup Rapido has raised $10 million (Rs 71 crore) in a Series A funding round led by Hong Kong-based multi-strategy private investment firm Integrated Capital. Existing investors US-based Skycatchr, AdvantEdge and Astarc Ventures also took part in this round, the Bengaluru-based start-up said in a statement. For Integrated Capital, this is its at least second investment in India within four months; it had last year invested in tea cafe chain Chaayos. Rapido, operated by Roppen Transportation Services Pvt. Ltd, plans to use the money to expand its operations to all major cities in the country, said co-founder Aravind Sanka. The company aims to reach 25 cities by the end of this year. Currently, Rapido gets 2.5 million orders a month and plans to grow to 20 million orders by the end of this year, said Sanka. Founded by Rishikesh SR, Pavan Guntupalli and Sanka, Rapido allows users to book bike rides for solo trips via a mobile app that can be accessed in multiple languages such as Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and English. Rapido operates in Bengaluru and Delhi.