'Seemed Like A Great Idea Until...': Rapido Co-Founder On Facing 75 Rejections To Secure Funding
Guntupalli reflected on his entrepreneurial journey and said that even after facing 75 rejections from investors to secure funding for Rapido, he learnt from mistakes and moved ahead.
Ride-hailing platform Rapido increased its lead over peer Uber with over five crore Android users in India. Earlier this month, NDTV Profit had reported that the number of active users on Rapido is almost the same as the number of users on apps like Zomato and Swiggy, according to data collated by app traffic analyser Sensor Tower.
About 90% of Indian mobile phones use Android operating systems, over iOS. While Rapido's active users are ahead of peer Uber's, it is also noteworthy that the Bengaluru-based company has a clear lead in high-volume categories like bike taxis and autorickshaws.
Rapido co-founder Pavan Guntupalli said at NDTV Yuva Conclave 2025 - The Mumbai Chapter on Saturday, Sept. 20 that one of the key pillars for the journey of the founders and his co-founders was to 'create impact'. Guntupalli reflected on his entrepreneurial journey and said that even after facing 75 rejections from investors to secure funding for Rapido, he learnt from mistakes and 'got up again and again' to move ahead.
How was Rapido conceived? Where is it now?
Going back to the nascent stages of his startup journey, Pavan said that Rapido was his eighth attempt. ''Everything seemed like a great idea until I failed. First, I got into manufacturing pipes where I lost not just my savings but also my own. Then, I got into marketing for which I even had some education, so went into marketing, but failed terribly. Then, I went into payments and logistics. My eighth attempt was Rapido," he said.
The Rapido co-founder explained the rationale behind his work ethic. "When we were doing our previous startup which was into logistics, we were doing great business, but one thing which wasn't feeling right was that it was not creating any impact. We were raking in great revenue and our investors were happy, but something wasn't feeling right," he said.
Coming to how Rapido was conceived, Pavan said, "We call ourselves entrepreneurs by choice, but we didn't have any eureka moment. We figured out the problem statements that we can solve, what our strengths are and if we have the skill set to do it. ''Today, we are in 400 cities and expanding to 1,000 cities,'' he concluded.
Rapido, an unlisted company founded in 2015 as theKarrie by Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli, and SR Rishikesh had originally gained traction with its 'Bike-Taxi' offering. It was the first company to offer two-wheeler taxi service in the market and quickly gained market share between 2015-2018, soon after which it launched three-wheelers as well as cab service.
