Rapido, a popular ride-hailing platform in India that competes with Uber, has doubled its valuation to $2.3 billion following a secondary share sale by food delivery giant Swiggy. The share sale comes just weeks after Rapido began piloting food deliveries, edging into Swiggy’s core territory.
Swiggy has offloaded its entire 12% stake in Rapido for ₹24 billion (about $270 million) through two separate deals, according to regulatory filings. Around 10% of the stake is being acquired by Prosus for ₹19.68 billion (roughly $222 million), while the remaining stake is being sold to WestBridge Capital for ₹4.31 billion (about $49 million), according to regulatory filings released after Swiggy’s board meeting on Tuesday.
The Dutch investment group Prosus is already a common backer of both Swiggy and Rapido, and is the largest shareholder in Swiggy.
Rapido’s latest share sale pegs the startup at more than twice its $1.1 billion valuation from September 2024, a figure that its CEO confirmed with TechCrunch.
In August, Rapido ventured into food deliveries in Bengaluru through a pilot program operated by its subsidiary Ownly. The pilot marked Rapido’s entry into a sector long dominated by Swiggy and its arch-rival Zomato. Rapido co-founder and CEO Aravind Sanka confirmed to TechCrunch about the pilot, stating that it initially began in three neighborhoods within the city.
The Rapido’s entry into food delivery came over three years after Swiggy backed the startup in a $180 million funding round in April 2022.
Rapido also partnered with Swiggy as a last-mile delivery provider, helping fulfill food orders on the platform. Swiggy’s early partnership gave Rapido a window into customer demand patterns and the operational challenges faced by restaurants on the platform, including the commissions required to receive orders, a source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.
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Swiggy hinted earlier this year that it might sell its stake in Rapido. In a July letter to shareholders, Swiggy stated it was reassessing its stake in Rapido due to a potential conflict of interest, as the ride-hailing company prepared to enter the food delivery market. Swiggy co-founder and CEO Sriharsha Majety also mentioned during a July earnings call that the company “even had some conversations around a potential collaboration in food delivery with Rapido.”
“Unfortunately, that didn’t materialize, and Rapido decided to enter the business,” Majety told investors on the call.
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