BENGALURU: Ride-hailing startup
Rapido
, which turned unicorn recently, is in talks with
quick commerce
startup
Zepto
and grocers Pincode and KPN to foray into the quick commerce delivery business, sources told TOI.
Aadit Palicha, founder and CEO of Zepto, told TOI that the company maintains control over more than 90% of its
delivery fleet
internally.
However, he declined to comment on any potential talks between Zepto and Rapido.
Similarly, Rapido declined to comment on its proposed partnership with Zepto. “The talks are preliminary in nature but make perfect sense since
Nexus Venture Partners
is a common investor in the two companies and the synergies just add up with ample supply at Rapido’s end,” a person familiar with the talks told TOI.
Currently, Bengaluru-based Rapido works with only two players on its business-to-business (B2B) logistics arm, but only in food delivery – Swiggy and Open Network for Digital Commerce. Swiggy is an investor in Rapido.
“
Bike taxi
services peak in the morning hours during schools, offices and colleges commute time. These partnerships help utilise the vehicles efficiently throughout the day. For drivers and bikers, their earnings increase by 25% for the same time they spend on the platform,” Rapido founder and CEO Aravind Sanka told TOI.
Rapido, which secured $200 million in a funding round led by existing investor
WestBridge Capital
at a $1.1 billion valuation last week, currently handles 2.5 million orders per day, he said. These orders are spread across bike taxis, auto as well as cab rides.
“Our B2B business is less than 7% of the overall business. This side does deliveries using two-wheelers,” Sanka added. The company is present across 100 cities in the country currently. Sanka said that the company operates a fleet of 700,000 riders.
