For booking flights, buses, trains, and hotels, Rapido has partnered with Goibibo, owned by MakeMyTrip; ConfirmTkt, owned by ixigo; and redBus. Rapido aims to become a one-stop travel app, offering its 5 Cr active users from more than 400 cities nationwide a smooth mobility experience. Prior to a possible initial public offering (IPO), the ride-hailing company is working to diversify.
Unicorn that rides Rapido has partnered with Goibibo, owned by MakeMyTrip; ConfirmTkt, owned by ixigo; and redBus to provide hotel, bus, rail, and flight booking through its app. With these features, Rapido hopes to establish itself as a one-stop travel app, delivering its 5 Cr active users from more than 400 cities around the nation a smooth mobility experience.
Rapido claimed that by combining daily mobility and trip booking into a single app, it is well-positioned to onboard the next 10 Cr digital travellers. RedBus is an online bus ticketing platform for intercity bus reservations, whereas Goibibo offers hotel and airfare bookings. ConfirmTkt is a B2C online train ticketing platform that has been authorised.
Rapido Added New Travel Section in its App
Rapido has established a new “travel” section on its app’s home screen in order to accommodate the additional services. By utilising Rapido’s reach, Goibibo, ConfirmTkt, and redBus hope to increase their user base even more with this relationship.
Rapido’s continuing diversification strategy continues with this move. A full-fledged mobility app, the ride-hailing firm started off as a bike-taxi platform for short-distance urban commuting. Over time, it added car and taxi booking services to its main business of bike ride-hailing. In an attempt to compete with Zomato and Swiggy, Rapido also entered the food delivery market earlier this year with the introduction of Ownly.
Rapido Aiming to Become Multi-Service Platform
Rapido’s strategy change to become a multi-service platform instead of a single-category competitor is reflected in the diversification, which enables it to compete with both foodtech behemoths and significant ride-hailing companies. Rapido wants to increase app engagement and diversify its revenue sources by combining various offers into a single platform.
The most recent advancement coincides with Rapido’s goal of closing a $500–$550 million fundraising round. Swiggy’s stake sale would be one of several primary and secondary transactions that would take place during the round.
Although Rapido has not yet submitted its FY25 financial figures, the company is anticipated to generate over INR 1,000 Cr in revenue during the year. It reduced its loss from INR 675 Cr in the previous fiscal year to INR 370 Cr in FY24, a more than 45% reduction. Operating revenue increased from INR 443 Cr in FY23 to INR 648.1 Cr in FY24, a 46% increase.
Quick Shots
•Rapido now offers flight, hotel, bus, and
train bookings via partner integrations.
•Rapido Collaborated with Goibibo
(MakeMyTrip), ConfirmTkt (ixigo), and redBus.
•Rapido wants to become a one-stop travel
and mobility app for its 5 crore active users across 400+ cities.
•Rapido expands beyond bike-taxi roots to
car rides, taxis, food delivery (Ownly), and now travel services.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations.
With all the buzz that the millennials have with traveling and easy bookings, we had to have online booking portals that are easy as a button. Today, from airfare booking to bus booking, we have all arrangements for easy and fast online booking. One such company that revolutionized the bus travel industry is RedBus. In August 2006, Phanindra Sama, Sudhakar Pasupunuri, and Charan Padmaraju launched RedBus which is a multi-million-dollar startup.
Now, traveling might be a necessity, but the aim varies from the need of delight to professional to adventure and many more. The available avenues for transport are many starting from airplanes to trains to metros and autos. But the foremost commonly used mode of transport remains to be BUS. While traveling from one city to a different city, private buses are operated by bus operators under the supervision of travel agents. With this arrangement there are certain hardships that the consumer faces, this can range from limited seats particularly within the seasons of festivals. But with online ticket booking, this is a completely new and effortless experience for the customer. Initially, we just had an online booking for trains and airplanes, which are now too predominant in the market. But the good news is that now we have several players in the market offering easy and efficient bus booking facilities to the consumer. However, the first and now the top bus ticket booking platform is RedBus.
RedBus is a web ticket booking platform that facilitates comfortable and affordable traveling to millions by providing a dynamic and efficient online ticket booking system. RedBus was envisioned to make traveling for Indians a very convenient and cozy experience. Hence RedBus offers a dynamic range of services which include the following:
Multiple Travel Options Across Thousands of Routes
Excellent Customer Support for solving travel issues
Low-cost and affordable tickets
Extra benefits like discounts, deals, and festive offers, etc.
M-ticket, E-ticket, and Counter ticket
Luxurious hotel services
Bus hirings
Pilgrimage tours
The users can book tickets using the application and also customize the choices using the RedBus ticket booking application. Ticket booking across various bus types is available at this portal. It also facilitates users by providing exciting bus coupons, festival offers, etc. Other important features like availability of buses, seats, sort of bus and selection of the bus are available within this application.
Also, the RedBus team developed a software package named BOSS for bus operators. This software provides smooth access and thorough knowledge of buses and seating allotments to the customer. And a seat seller which furnishes the knowledge to the agency.
There are several other products at RedBus that make bus travel easier for Indian customers. Each product fuels the opposite and growing one product also leads to the growth of the others. At RedBus, they have call centers, an internet site and franchisees in Mumbai. With all of these arrangements in place, RedBus has been on the top of a highly fragmented bus industry and also taken on to shape it by aggregating information and centralizing.
RedBus – Founders and Team
The founders of RedBus are Phanindra Sama, Sudhakar Pasupunuri, and Charan Padmaraju.
Phanindra Sama Co-Founder of RedBus
Phanindra Sama
RedBus was co-founded by Phanindra Sama. He was employed at Texas Instruments and ST Microelectronics prior to joining RedBus. He has been employed by RedBus for around eight years. He completed his Electrical and Electronic Engineering BE with Honors from Bits Pilani.
Sudhakar Pasupunuri Co-Founder of RedBus
Sudhakar Pasupunuri
RedBus was co-founded by Sudhakar Pasupunuri. His education was completed at BITS Pilani.
Charan Padmaraju Co-Founder of RedBus
Charan Padmaraju
RedBus was co-founded by Charan Padmaraju. His education was completed at BITS Pilani. He was employed at Honeywell before joining RedBus.
RedBus – How did it start?
If you’re wondering as to how the idea of such a mind-boggling thing struck to the founder, Sama, then here is the story of how RedBus was actually born! All of this started when the founder Phanindra Sama was trying to travel from Bangalore to Hyderabad for Diwali vacation in the year 2005. And it so happened that he could not get a bus ticket to travel to his hometown. He wandered all around Bangalore city for a ticket that could take him home for the festival. But unfortunately, he didn’t get a single ticket. That very day, he came to know the disorganization in the system and the huge and unending communication gap between the two tiers of the whole system namely, bus operators and travel agents. Apparently, there was absolutely no transparency on the available seats and price of the ticket with regards to the date of journey, time and all other related variables. And everything related to the bus booking was done through phone calls, and if one wanted to do something with a ticket, they had to go all the way back to agents every time to book a new ticket, cancel, refund, or do a hundred other things.
When he went through the same issues with ticket booking, Sama felt it was extremely clumsy and time-consuming. And after thinking about it, he came to believe that this could be solved by taking this whole process online. After discussing this new-born idea with his friends, three of the founders decided to enter the realm of the entrepreneurial ground even though they didn’t have entrepreneurial bugs initially. And that’s how RedBus was born.
The name “RedBus” is supposedly taken from the color of the Virgin brand, which was started by Richard Branson. This was because of the mastermind behind this venture, Sama was immensely fascinated with his autobiography. And so he wanted to have a color for his business. And because the color of the Virgin brand is Red, they were mutually fiddling on this name for the firm. There’s one more reason to name it RedBus that it is an online-based brand and for the common man’s convenience, the founders wanted an easy and at the same time, catchy name for their startup. So, finally, they named it RedBus!
RedBus – Startup Challenges
All the startups have their fair share of milestones that they have to cross before becoming number 1 in the industry. Similarly, RedBus had its own set of challenges. The challenges that they had to face to take RedBus to where it is today are as follows:
Payment gateway issues for providing easy checkout facilities to the customer
Propagating a similar working environment, culture, and value system across offices in different countries
RedBus – Funding and Investors
To date, RedBus has raised $10.1 million over the span of 14 years.
Date
Stage
Amount
Investors
Sep 30, 2013
Angel
$45.6K
Danan Christadoss
Mar 14, 2011
Series C
$6.5 million
Helion Venture Partners, Seedfund and other unnamed investor
Jun 30, 2009
Series A
$2.5 million
Seedfund, Athera
Jul 31, 2007
Seed
$1 million
Seedfund and other unnamed investor
RedBus – Growth
Globally, RedBus has 8+ million customers,
2300+ bus operators
100 million trips are booked worldwide using the RedBus application
RedBus sold its stake to Ibibo for $135 million.
RedBus has operations across various countries besides India which are Colombia, Indonesia, Peru, Malaysia, and Singapore.
It currently sells around 220 million tickets/year(contract carriage buses).
RedBus is providing access to nearly 40,000 travel agents across the country
Also, the overall sector is growing at a CAGR of 35-40% per annum.
RedBus enjoys a huge network effect
Also, it witnesses high trust from bus operators because they are stuck to standard commissions and never asked for an increase based on increased volumes.
RedBus is recognized as an organized travel company in the country because it ensures a viable online presence by having call centers as well as franchisees.
RedBus is also very excited about BOSS installations in Bangladesh and Malaysia.
RedBus – Acquistion
On July 11, 2016, RedBus acquired one company, Busportal, for an undisclosed amount.
RedBus – Campaign
Redbus Campaign
In order to position itself as the hub of intercity bus travel during the impending holidays and celebrations, RedBus debuted its first digital-first brand campaign on September 27, 2022, alongside its brand ambassador, Icon Star Allu Arjun. Bringing your loved ones and dreams closer with RedBus is the theme of two ad films that the world’s largest online bus ticketing company has released as part of the campaign.
RedBus – Awards and Recognition
The awards and achievements that RedBus backed in its journey of 14 years are as follows:
Phanindra became the second entrepreneur from India to join Endeavour.
The most innovative company from the business-standard.
The most trusted brand from the brand trust report.
Mobile innovation award from the eye for travel.
Phanindra Sama placed under “40 under 40” by Fortune India in 2014.
Phanindra was appointed as the CIO (Chief Innovation Officer) of TSIC (Telangana State Innovation Cell) on 10th November 2017.
Top 5 startup in 2010’ by Forbes magazine.
RedBus – Competitors
Though RedBus is the pioneer in the industry when it comes to online booking for buses, today it faces intense competition from other predominant market players. The top competitors that directly or indirectly pose cut-throat competition to RedBus are Trabol, TicketGoose, MakeMyTrip, Travelyaari, AbhiBus, My Trip Zone, Ibroad, Simplotel, Purebus, and OYO. Though it sold its stakes to Ibibo, the competition is better faced with combined resources and upgraded technology.
redBus is India’s first organized bus ticket booking service and the biggest aggregator of bus tickets. It has been received very promptly by the Indians. India being the 5th largest contributor to the world’s GDP, aims to take the travel and tourism industry to $250 billion by 2030 and $1 trillion by 2047.
Companies like redBus put their immense contribution towards making the journey of travellers very convenient and safe. redBus’ contribution has taken the travel and tourism industry to great extent. Let’s look at the business model of redBus and understand its complete operations.
redBus is India’s largest online bus ticketing platform headquartered in Bangalore and owned by Goibibo. It provides a ticket booking facility through its website, iOS, and Android mobile apps and connects bus travellers with a network of over 2500 bus operators.
For better guidance, the company joined the TiE Entrepreneurship acceleration program where they got the guidance of great mentors.
redBus was the first of its kind and no doubt, it came out radiantly. Today, it sells more than 18,000-20,000 tickets per day. The company has two subsidiaries YourBus and Empresa Digital Peruana S.A.C.
Where Does redBus Operate?
Till now, redBus has served more than 18 million people across the world. Outside India, redBus also has a strong foothold in many countries :
Countries where redBus operates:
Colombia
India
Indonesia
Malaysia
Peru
Singapore
Key Services of redBus
redBus offers a secure and manageable experience for booking tickets online. Moreover, it offers complete choices to the customers such as choosing their destination with their preferred seating options. redBus not only works in the roadways domain but recently enters into the railway domain under the name of redRail.
List of services provided by redBus:
Bus Hire
Bus Tickets
rPool (Bikepool & Carpool)
rYde
redRail
Target Audience of redBus
redBus generally target audiences who want to book a bus ticket without going to the physical place to buy a ticket. This concept of redBus is made to acquire its consumers by providing customer support, discounts, and other perks which are impossible to get at the physical bus counter.
Business Model of redBus
The business model of redBus is very strong along with its digital marketing strategies. redBus’ business model is straightforward, as it charges a commission on every bus ticket booking. It also charges a commission from the bus operator on every ticket booked through its platform. The commission is approximately 10-20% based on the value of the ticket being sold.
redBus also provides hotel services along with ticket booking. It offers great deals on various occasions and also offers special discounts as well. But, the most advantageous factor that comes with RedBus is that it provides an opportunity for the customer to choose the most favourable route to their destination with the best seat in the best bus.
What Is Unique About The Business Model Of redBus?
Its business model is entirely based on its quality service to the customers. Its social media strategies are designed so well that it always finds great proposals for its audiences. It mostly keeps on promotion but that too, on customers’ demands and favours.
Some of the features that make it unique are:
Customers can track their buses.
Customers can book buses according to the ratings.
There are reserved seats for women.
Customers can give feedback on the services provided and their experiences after the trip.
How Does redBus Make Money?
redBus makes its money by charging some fee as commission from the bus operators on each booked ticket on redBus. The commission comes as 10-20% of the total ticket value.
In 2019, redBus received great success, it had annual revenue of $85 million. The company has a valuation of $710 million in 2020. Now, it has over 36 million users from all over the world with 3500 bus operators according to the data given on its website. And known as the largest online bus ticket company.
Conclusion
redBus has gone through lots of success and failure since its launch in 2006. There are tons of bus services available 24×7 to meet all the needs of travellers. Its business model is quite simple and strong but most importantly, redBus is widely famous and welcomed among the common people.
redBus eases the major issue of finding the correct bus for any destination. It’s one step closer to fulfilling every need of a traveller along with destination travel requirements. redBus is one of its kind and it’s a true inspiration for developing services for the betterment of common people.
FAQs
What is redBus?
redBus is an online bus ticket booking platform from Phanindra Sama, Charan Padmaraju, and Sudhakar Pasupunuri in 2006.
What are the subsidiaries of redBus?
redBus has two subsidiaries YourBus and Empresa Digital Peruana S.A.C.
How much commission does redBus take?
redBus charges a 10% to 20% commission on the value of the ticket.
Which company owns redBus?
The parent company of redBus is Goibibo.
Who is the founder of redBus?
Phanindra Sama, Charan Padmaraju, and Sudhakar Pasupunuri founded redBus in August 2006.
Did Ibibo Group acquire redBus?
Yes, redBus was sold to Ibibo Group for $138 million.
Travelling is a basic necessity for all of us today. Everyone, from children to the elderly, travel places every day. The objective is distinct from the desire for fulfilment. There are a variety of types of transportation available, including planes and vehicles. However, for many people, the bus is still the most common mode of transportation.
Booking tickets provides passengers with a unique experience because it is a simple and effective way to purchase a ticket. Bus ticket bookings have increased in tandem with railway and aircraft ticket purchases. There are already a lot of companies that offer online bus ticket booking.
RedBus, on the other hand, was the first and is currently one of the most popular bus ticket purchasing platforms. Redbus was founded by Phanindra Sama, Chandran Padmarauju, and Sudhakar Pasupunuri. These engineers were from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science. In this article, learn more about Phanindra Sama.
Phanindra Sama is a famous name that wasn’t well-known but is recognised in South India as a young Web entrepreneur. Every kid should be inspired by his journey. His experience as a web entrepreneur is unparalleled. He was an average employee ten years ago, but an idea born out of difficulty has set him apart from the group.
Phanindra Samma was born in the small village Tadapaikal of Nizamabad district in India. He lost his dad at an age where he could not understand why things were happening. This is the major incident in Phanindra that shook his childhood.
Phanindra Sama – Education
For his 10th and +2 years, Phanindra relocated to his Uncle’s residence in Hyderabad. He was an exceptional student in his academics. He received an average of 80% in SSC and 97 percent in Intermediate. He was accepted into BITS PILNI in the Electronics Engineering track based on his Intermediate grades.
In BITS, he has had to deal with a lot of problems. He exhibited leadership characteristics, and as a result, he was named team leader of the photography club at BITS University. At the time, his classmates and fellow students were awestruck by his extraordinary leadership abilities.
He has attended Stanford University for the Field Of Study Economics, Social Psychology in 2016 in Kings College London. He also went to the Swedish Institute for Field Of Study Responsible Leadership and Sustainable Business Practices. He got a Chevening Standard Chartered Financial Services Fellowship from King’s College London.
Phanindra Sama – The RedBus Journey
In 2005-06, Phanindra Sama used to travel by bus very frequently. He wanted to travel to his family but He was late for a bus one day when the idea for RedBus came to him. He discovered a solution to the problem, and as a consequence, Redbus was formed.
Phanindra Sama considers himself an entrepreneur by chance. He began his career as a Design Engineer at ST Microelectronics, and two years later, he transferred to Texas Instruments as a Senior Design Engineer.
From his unfortunate experience of missing a bus one day while working at Texas Instruments, he saw the need for an online bus ticket-buying platform. Soon after, he began putting his plans into action, founding India’s most popular and extensive online bus ticket-buying platform, RedBus, and working as the Chief Executing Officer of his own firm (CEO).
Phanindra Sama founded RedBus with his two friends Charan Padmaraju and Sudhakar Pasupunur in 2006. They failed to raise any funds at the start but later Venture capitalists started approaching them. They received their first seed funding from the ‘Seed Fund’ and built the company and scaled it to huge heights. The company was at the peak of its success when the Ibibo group acquired Redbus.
Following that, Phanindra Sama left the firm. He was employed as Chief Innovation Officer with the Government of Telangana. Sama is now an advisor at West Bridge Capital. He is also an angel investor, investing in tiny businesses that he believes in.
Phanindra Sama’s net worth is estimated to be over $12 million, according to reports.
Phanindra Sama – Investments
Date
Organization Name
Funding Round
Money Raised
Oct 27, 2021
Stoa School
Seed Round
₹110M
Jul 19, 2021
Eka Care
Seed Round
$4.5M
Nov 27, 2020
Kagaaz Scanner
Seed Round
575k
Oct 13, 2020
Tread
Pre-Seed Round
$1.1M
Oct 1, 2020
QuestBook
Pre-Seed Round
$625k
Mar 8, 2020
AirMeet
Seed Round
$3M
Jan 8, 2020
RheoTV
Seed Round
$2M
Jul 15, 2019
Jiny.io
Seed Round
$725k
Mar 21, 2018
OpenTalk
Seed Round
–
Feb 13, 2017
Flyle
Seed Round
$400k
Phanindra Sama – Personal Life
Having a love life while attempting to create a business, Phanindra Sama confesses, is quite challenging. When Phanindra Sama was busy aggregating bus services all the time, he didn’t have time for dating. Phanindra Sama’s interactions were mostly limited to his stakeholders, and he didn’t have a girlfriend.
Phanindra Sama did an arranged marriage. The date of Phanindra Sama’s wedding was determined by his parents, and the identity of Phanindra Sama’s wife has not been revealed to the public.
The wife of Phanindra Sama is a very quiet woman who very occasionally attends events with his husband. She is kind of a life at home mother who is concerned for her children and their growth. Phanindra Sama stated unequivocally that he sold his firm for a variety of reasons, one of which was to give his daughter and his wife more time.
Phanindra Sama built a thriving business and transformed the bus ticket booking system in our country. Phanindra Sama has now continued to fund new startups, as an angel investor. The nicest part about his newly created site is that he did not start it as a business. He merely intended to find a solution and assist everyone who was experiencing the same difficulties he had.
For a few years, Phanindra and his wonderful pals worked really hard because their efforts were not recognised by others who had worked in the tourism sector for many years. Nothing, however, could persuade Phanindra to abandon his plan, and this is what contributed to his triumph.
Phanindra Sama – FAQ
Who is Phanindra Sama?
Phanindra Sama is an entrepreneur and the founder and former CEO of RedBus.in & Pilani Soft Labs Pvt Ltd.
What is the net worth of Phanindra Sama?
Phanindra Sama’s net worth is estimated to be over $12 million, according to reports.
The Startup scene in India took off after it realized the potency of this sector. This was not because of some magic and it obviously didn’t happened overnight. This took a long time. It took off due to many internal reasons like massive Fundings, growth of Angel Investors chain, boom in technology and the need to change.
The startup ecosystem in India is the 4th largest in the world. India has produced some very famous startups like Paytm , OYO Rooms , Redbus , Zivame. In 2018, 8 startups were evaluated at $1 Billion. But among a ocean of startups, why only 8 ?
Is India a saturated market?
India stands unchallenged , holding the second spot in global population. It is a major economy that is dependent equally on both the rural and urban sides. However, major startups serves only the pat living in the urban areas. Due to this the population of the rural areas go unnoticed. The main problem is here. Too many startups are serving a very small part. This makes the economy more and more saturated. This chasing of very few customers by a lot of companies makes the startups to fail.
Problems for startups in India
Fear to take risk: A major problem is the Funding in India. Investors in India lack trust and the risk taking factor. Only a portion of investors have the will to give in to a new comer. Due to this a majority of startup population cannot succeed.
Startup rate of nations
Managing the Business: After a business takes off and starts to shape up it is required to be maintained well. Not only from this point. The founders should take care of the management from the start to prevent the company from going into problems like debts.
Pressure from the surroundings: There’s a term for people who gym. Its called ego lifting. Ego lifting is something that is born out of jealousy and pressure from friends. Startups also follow this. This leads to their downfall.
Why Foreign countries?
Countries abroad provide a lot of scope to Startups. Moving abroad gives the Startup a broader audience. A more technological advanced audience. Apart from all the money saving and tax reasons. Moving abroad also enables the startups to gain fame for being associated with foreign countries.
What we all already know is the fact that India doesn’t have a proper infrastructure. Our nation lacks financially, technologically. All this affects the infrastructure directly. Startups move abroad to use the better infrastructure.
Foreign countries have hubs and clusters. Countries like Estonia have special things to provide. They are minimal taxes, low rent places and many other things. Countries like these have there own angel investors chain. Different countries specialise in different sectors. For example Israel is known fro its strong base in Security and Agriculture.
Sales
When it comes to population or number of customers. India is not behind. So, wheres the issue? The issue lies in the fact that not a major portion of the population is through with the technological advancements. Not many are interested to know about what goes around in the world. This narrows the range for any startup in India.
To increase the sales and the range startups move abroad.
Finding Money
To find money one should know where to look. Only 8 Indian startups made about $1 Billion in a year. The failure rate is much more than the success. So, current India is not a place to look for money. Due to this not many investors come forward in order to fund the startups.
So, Indian startups move abroad to get the investments rolling. Above this the population outside India has a very acceptable mindset.
“Businesses, by very definition, are aspirational and going international is part of it. It gives more exposure, better access to financial investors, and of course a hope of revenue growth,” said Yugal Joshi, vice-president of Texas-based consulting firm Everest Group.
Favourite countries for Startups
Serbia
In the recent few years Serbia has seen US companies building up operations there. Serbia is changing rapidly to evolve into a hub for application development , programming and IT outsourcing. The reasons behind this sudden change is the multilingual and well educated population. They also provide for fancy and attractive incentives for IT investments from other countries.
Australia
The countries small yet talented workforce and closeness to Asian markets, makes this a good option for startups. The country also attracts a lot of immigrants who are highly qualified.
Estonia is a place with one of the highest per capita rate in terms of startups. Estonia is the most suitable place for entrepreneurs. It has a very entrepreneur friendly tax policy. It provides many attractive incentives to foreign investors.
India too appears in the list for suitable places. But the country is still like molding clay. It is still building and it would take time. It would take time to generate investors or a proper ecosystem. But for now India is not a suitable ground to play for startups.
