Accel has invested in Rapido, the ride-hailing platform that competes with Uber in India. At the same time, Prosus has increased its stake in the company. This follows Indian two-wheeler giant TVS Motor selling its entire holding in Rapido.
In a stock exchange filing on Thursday, TVS Motor announced it sold its entire stake for 2.88 billion rupees, which is approximately 32 million dollars. The buyers were Accel and Prosus’s investment unit, MIH Investments. This sale secured a return of more than 152 percent for TVS Motor over the past three years.
Rapido was founded in 2015 and has grown into a major player in India’s ride-hailing market, where it competes with companies like Uber, Ola, and InDrive. The company started its services with bike taxis before expanding into auto-rickshaw bookings and car services. It has also added courier services to its platform. More recently, Rapido has been piloting a food-delivery service in select cities, entering a segment dominated by Swiggy and Zomato.
TVS Motor first invested in Rapido in April 2022 as part of the company’s 180 million dollar Series D funding round. At that time, it joined existing backers such as WestBridge Capital, Shell Ventures, and Nexus Venture Partners. The automaker originally purchased its stake for 1.14 billion rupees, according to its earlier investor disclosures.
In this latest transaction, Accel purchased 11,997 preference shares in Rapido. Prosus acquired 11,988 preference shares and 10 equity shares. Each investor paid approximately 1.44 billion rupees, or about 16 million dollars.
Accel’s backing of Rapido marks a return to India’s ride-hailing sector for the firm, which was an early investor in Ola. This move comes as Rapido is reportedly in talks with Accel and Prosus for a new primary funding round that could close next year. The exact size of this funding has not yet been determined.
Prosus is already an investor in Rapido and expanded its stake further through another secondary share sale in September. That transaction occurred when Swiggy sold its entire holding, and it doubled Rapido’s valuation to 2.3 billion dollars.
Accel and Prosus are also early backers of Swiggy. Swiggy exited Rapido after citing a potential conflict of interest, as the ride-hailing startup prepared to expand into the food-delivery market. Accel, Prosus, and Rapido did not respond to requests for comment.