Chalo raises $57 Mn in a new round

Update: Chalo on Monday announced that it has raised $45 million in a Series D round led by Avataar Ventures, along with existing investors Lightrock India, WaterBridge Ventures, and Amit Singhal (former Senior VP and Head of Google Search).

Chalo has also announced an additional $12 million funds via venture debt from Trifecta and Stride Ventures.

Original post follows

Bus tracking and ticketing service provider Chalo has raised $20 million from Avataar Ventures. This is the first round of investment for the company in 2023.

The board at Chalo has passed a special resolution to allot 3,015 preference shares at an issue price of $6,634 per share to raise $20 million, its regulatory filing in Singapore shows.

Following the fresh proceeds, LightRock remains the largest shareholder in the company with 30.2% while the new investor Avatar Ventures commands 7.1% in the Bangalore-based firm.

As per the Fintrackr estimates, the company has been valued at around $290 million (post allotment). Chalo’s valuation also slipped in this round as the firm was valued at around $365 million in October 2021 when it raised $40 million led by LightRock.

The Series C round also had a secondary component of $10 million which was used to buy back ESOPs (Employee Stock Ownership Plans) to reward current and former staff. Chalo has raised around $100 million to date across rounds.

Chalo makes money by tying up with local city bus operators across India, and providing GPS tracking and online ticketing for passengers, which includes digital bus passes for multiple journeys; the operators pay the company for increased ridership.

While the company is yet to file its financial statements for FY23, its revenue had a flat growth in FY22. Chalo’s operating revenue stood at Rs 35.75 crore in FY22 as compared to Rs 26.17 crore in FY21, according to its annual financial statements. During the same period, the company’s losses jumped over 2X to Rs 66.4 crore.