Amritsar, NFAPost: Yolo TravelTech Pvt. Ltd, which operates inter-city transportation and mobility platform Yolo, has raised $3.3 million (nearly Rs 25 crore at current exchange rate) in its Series A round of funding led by Nexus Venture Partners.
According to the company sources, early stage VC firm India Quotient also participated in this round. The mobility startup also raised seed funding of $600,000 (approximately Rs 4.28 crore at current exchange rates) in a seed funding round during January 2020.
The Gurugram-based company has raised the capital from angel investors and a venture capital firm as part of its seed round. However, it did not disclose the identities of investors. The company has so far raised $4.1 million in funding from a mix of HNIs and VC funds.
“As an industry we’re just scratching the surface of how India’s bus services can be when married to our uber offerings of safety, sanitisation and comfort,” said Shailesh Gupta, CEO at Yolobus.
As part of the strategy, Yolobus is looking to introduce for bus travellers safety measures similar to those imposed by airlines, at a time when there’s demand for inter-city travel but people are wary of contracting Covid-19.
“We should recover demand in the next two to three months. Even now, there is pent-up demand, but every alternate seat on the bus is blocked to maintain social distancing,” said Gupta, who is also the CEO of Yolobus.
Besides strengthening mobility platform, the company will avail the money to provide customised mobility solutions to its different markets and double investments across technology, customer, crew safety and sanitisation, among others.
Following the Series A round, Nexus Venture Partners Managing Director Suvir Sujan and India Quotient co-founder Anand Lunia will join the board of Yolo TravelTech Pvt. Ltd.
“Intercity ground mobility in India hasn’t kept up with the needs of the discerning urban traveller and is ripe for disruption. Yolobus is using technology and data science to redefine intercity bus travel experience” said Nexus Venture Partners Managing Director Suvir Sujan.
Yolo, which is competing in the business space with Travelyaari, was founded in August last year by Gupta, Danish Chopra and Mukul Shah. By partnering with fleets and bus operators with their specification, Yolo makes sure it passengers enjoy comfortable, punctual and safe ride. The company works in an asset light model so that it will run smoothly.
According to Arvian Research, investors across the board are exploring various avenues to invest in mobility companies of different dimentsion, including logistics, as India’s growing population might demand more facilities.
“Since digital disruption along with electric mobility is creating disruption, the transportation segment is going through thorough changes. Massive infrastructure build-up happening across the country is also increasing the pace of these changes,” said Head of Arvian Research.
Besides massive urbanization, India is witnessing high population growth and growing middle-class population with higher disposable income who are willing to travel are driving the growth of the transportation sector.
