Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

Gurugram-based minibus service Shuttl has raised around ₹7.3 crores ($1 million) in debt funding from venture debt fund Trifecta Capital, as reported by VCCircle.

The deal has not yet been confirmed by either Shuttl or Trifecta Capital.

The latest funding comes less than three months after Shuttl raised $11 million in series B funding led by Amazon, in connection with Amazon Alexa Fund, and Japan-based Dentsu Ventures, along with other existing investors.

Earlier in December 2015, Shuttl raised $20 million in series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital India, along with participation from Times Internet, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and AdvantEdge Partners.

Shuttl, an app based office bus provider, helps to make daily commute for its users convenient by providing AC buses with high frequency at reasonable prices. It was founded by Amit Singh and Deepanshu Malviya in 2015.

Its services are currently available in Delhi-NCR, with pilot programs running in Pune and Kolkata. Shuttl claims to provide its services to over 30,000 users with a fleet of over 500 buses on 50 routes every day.

As per the company filings, it recorded an operating revenue of ₹14.34 crores in FY2016-17, compared to ₹2.23 crores in the previous year. Although, its net losses increased from ₹52.54 crores in 2016-17 to 59.07 crores in 2016-17.

Last month, UAE-based cab-hailing company Careem acquired Hyderabad-based minibus provider Commut. Since Careem didn’t have any expansion plans for India, Shuttl absorbed Commut’s customers and drivers, to make sure their drivers’ livelihood wasn’t affected.

Other players in the Indian bus aggregation space include ZipGo and Cityflo, among others.

New Delhi-based bus aggregator ZipGo raised ₹200 crores in series B funding round led by Essel Group, in August 2018.

Mumbai-based urban transportation startup Cityflo last raised $750,000 in seed funding from Chiratae Ventures, formerly known as IDG Ventures India.

With the acceptance of cab-sharing services in the Indian market, there is an opportunity for the bus aggregators to serve the users looking for a cheaper and reliable mode of transportation.

By Varun

Startups | Books | Ideas

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