Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli & SR Rishikesh

About

Ride-sharing has a new name: Rapido. There is no denying the fact that the Bengaluru-based 11-year-old ride share platform has made a mark. Mates-turned-entrepreneurs, Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli and S.R. Rishikesh, have established Rapido as the commute of choice among value-conscious commuters, both in urban and Tier-I and -II cities, with their flagship two-wheeler rides. In fact, 2026 will be a milestone year for Rapido, given its valuation hit $3 billion this May, following a $240-million raise led by Prosus, WestBridge Capital and Accel. “One of our core motivations for entrepreneurship is impact. We want to create employment on a scale. Rapido gave us that opportunity, not just for people working in our office, but for millions of captains on the ground earning money in their own cities and villages,” Guntupalli tells Fortune India. The pivotal moment in Rapido’s journey was identifying that the most common asset in every other Indian household was the two-wheeler and that emerged as the startup’s growth lynchpin. “India is a two-wheeler-dominated country, public transportation isn’t great in most of it, and we were using an existing asset. It felt almost too obvious not to happen,” says Sanka. While the founders have stayed on course together, their responsibilities are divided. Rishikesh, who leads technology at Rapido, says: “We’ve never over-invested in headcount... Despite being one of the largest consumer companies, we likely have the lowest headcount relative to our peers.” On the cards, is an integrated multi-modal transport solution that Rapido wants to put in place by working with respective state Metro Rail Corporations. What is a pilot project now could well turn out to be a strategic masterstroke for Rapido.