Rapido’s rapid rise: Uber CEO says startup has overtaken Ola as its key competitor in India; here’s what he said

NEW DELHI: Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has identified Rapido as the company’s biggest challenger in India, saying the bike-taxi and ride-hailing startup has now overtaken Ola as Uber’s main competition in the market. Speaking on Zerodha cofounder Nikhil Kamath’s podcast People by WTF, he remarked in a teaser clip, “Ola used to be our main competition. Now, the tougher competition in India is Rapido.”In May, ET reported that Rapido had captured about 40% of India’s overall ride-hailing market across vehicle categories. In the four-wheeler segment, it has been eating into Ola’s share. As of April, Rapido held 20% of the market, compared with Ola’s 30% and Uber’s 50%. Since then, sources say Rapido has continued to gain ground against both rivals.Rapido’s growth has been fuelled by service expansion. Its gross order value rose to $1.25 billion in FY25, up 2.5 times from $500 million a year earlier. The rapid scale-up, however, has come with higher cash burn, pushing the company further away from profitability.The company recently resumed bike-taxi operations in Bengaluru after the Karnataka high court questioned the state government’s ban on the service. Earlier this month, it also forayed into food delivery with Ownly, now live in select Bengaluru postcodes, where it hopes to challenge Swiggy and Zomato through lower rates and fixed delivery fees.When asked what advice he would give young entrepreneurs in mobility, delivery or quick commerce, Khosrowshahi joked, “Don’t build anything like Uber because we’ll kick your ass.” Kamath replied, “You can buy us later.”