Bengaluru-based Bike taxi startup Rapido has launched Rapido Store, a new inter-city logistics service for businesses to deliver products at consumers’ doorsteps. The company in a statement said that the service targets both offline and online businesses, and currently functional in Bengaluru and Vijaywada – soon to be launched in other cities.
The new development came amid the COVID-19 outbreak that has evidently boosted growth for the digital services sector. Rapido Store will help businesses track all their deliverables through a simple dashboard on their smartphones. The base price of the service starts from INR 35 for 3km in Bengaluru, and INR 30 for 3km in Vijaywada.
The company has claimed that it has already accumulated over 200 small and medium businesses on its new logistics platform. Rapido Store will leverage its fleet of riders to ensure quick and secured deliverables. The riders or commonly called as ‘captains’ at Rapido will be given training and safety guidelines.
With the launch of Rapido Store, the company will directly be competing with foodtech giant Swiggy that has launched a similar model of service under the name ‘Genie’ in April. Other startups including Shadowfax and Dunzo have also pivoted into the same model as a revival plan during COVID-19 crisis.
Commenting on the development, Aravind Sanka, co-founder of Rapido in statement said,
“Rapido Store will give businesses and entrepreneurs an opportunity to maintain continuity and also increase sales by reaching out to new customers by leveraging Rapido’s extensive network. The service will allow these businesses to overcome manpower and mobility challenges by helping them deliver their orders and save time,”
It is assumable that the launch of Rapido Store in other cities across India won’t be much challenging since the company owns over 1500K registered captains across 100 cities in India.
Rapido was founded in 2015 by Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli, and Rishikesh SR. The company has a raised over $78 million until now from a clutch of investors including AdvantEdge Founders, Skycatcher, Thompson Taraz, Astarc Ventures, Westbridge Capital, and Nexus Venture Partners.
