[Funding Alert] Nandan Nilekani Leads INR 100 Crore Round In Intercity Mobility Start-Up The new funds will help IntrCity by RailYatri further expand its bus network and enhance the tech platform.
By Debroop Roy
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IntrCity by RailYatri, an intercity mobility start-up, has raised over INR 100 crore in a funding round led by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani. Samsung Venture Investment joined as a strategic partner while existing investors Omidyar Network and Blume Ventures also participated in the round.
IntrCity operates in the intercity mobility segment. A full stack marketplace model where it works with different bus operators, the company offers travelers features such as washrooms, WiFi connectivity, a passenger information system and infotainment through its managed buses. It is currently running a fleet of 84 smart buses across 18 hubs, covering 65 destinations and serving about 400,000 travelers per month.
The new funds will help the company further expand its bus network and enhance the tech platform.
Solidifying Growth
"We have grown 500+ per cent in the last year with the entire growth costs being met from our internal revenue generation, and we are projecting 300 per cent growth over the next three consecutive years," said co-founder Kapil Raizada, in a statement.
The company said the IntrCity SmartBus fleet has gone PAN India, driven by growing demand for standardized high service quality buses. A bulk of the bookings come from the RailYatri online platform.
On partnering with operators, Raizada said, "we have on boarded a number of top operators on our platform in the past 18 months across North, South and West India, which coupled with our natural capability to acquire intercity travelers, has helped fuel growth on a fundamentally strong economic model."
Noida-based IntrCity intends to expand its fleet of smart buses to 300 from 84 in the next few months, according to co-founder and chief executive officer Manish Rathi. He said they are on track to take that number to 2,000 by 2022.
"We could create India's leading multi-modal inter-city mobility network due to our deep understanding of how Bharat travels, gained due to focused execution of the last four years," said Rathi.
With this investment, the company has so far raised $30 million in funding.
