Rapido joins Rs 1,000 Cr income club in FY25, delivery biz outpaces ride-hailing

Mobility firm Rapido has remained in the spotlight over the past year after delivering handsome returns to TVS, Swiggy, Prosus, Accel, and other early backers. It also drew wider attention after Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi publicly acknowledged it as a bigger rival. Meanwhile, during the fiscal year ended March 2025, Rapido reported a 44% year-on-year growth in revenue while managing to narrow its losses.

Rapido’s revenue from operations increased to Rs 934 crore in FY25 from Rs 648 crore in FY24, according to its consolidated financial statements sourced from the Registrar of Companies.

Rapido primarily earns money by charging a commission on rides completed on its platform across two, three,  and four-wheelers. This platform-led income accounted for 29% of the company’s total revenue in FY25 but declined 23.5% year-on-year to Rs 277 crore.

At the same time, Rapido’s delivery business, where customers pay the company to move food and parcels through its captains, continued to gain traction. Revenue from delivery services increased by 28.3% to Rs 340 crore during the year, making it the company’s largest single revenue stream. It is worth noting that passenger revenue was the firm’s largest component in FY24, but it was overtaken by the delivery business in FY25.

Subscription income, collected from captains and users who pay for ride passes and platform benefits, emerged as a key growth driver, surging nearly 14X to Rs 275 crore. Meanwhile, income from passenger transportation services, where Rapido directly operates vehicles, stood at Rs 21 crore. Advertisement revenue, largely from sponsored listings on the app, came in at Rs 16 crore, while other operating income, mainly parking fees recovered from drivers, stood at Rs 5 crore.

The company also earned Rs 69 crore from interest on investments, taking its total income to Rs 1,003 crore in FY25 from Rs 579 crore in FY24.

On the cost front, delivery charges and incentives paid to captains remained the largest expense, accounting for 40% of the overall costs. This expense increased by 8.7% to Rs 500 crore in FY25. Employee benefit cost also rose 20% year-on-year to Rs 207 crore during the period.

Rapido spent Rs 252 crore on advertising and promotion, while research and development expenses stood at Rs 108 crore in FY25. Rent, legal, professional, and other overheads pushed the company’s total expenses to Rs 1,261 crore in FY25, up from Rs 1,066 crore in FY24.

The strong revenue growth helped Rapido reduce its net loss by 30.5% to Rs 258 crore in FY25, compared to Rs 371 crore in FY24. Its ROCE and EBITDA margins also improved to negative 13.58% and negative 19.59%, respectively. On a unit economics basis, Rapido spent Rs 1.35 to earn a rupee of operating revenue.

According to startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Rapido has raised over $550 million to date, including its $200 million unicorn round led by WestBridge. The company has also completed multiple secondary transactions over the past year.

The revenue break up for Rapido is a good indicator of just where friction is highest in the business. While the goods delivery business offers high growth, potential and margins, the passenger side of the business remains a challenge, and getting more so every day with the Bharat taxi app launch now. We believe the Rapido business could look more and more like the successful business model by Porter unless the government allows these firms more leeway to operate without any fear of action at state or central level from ever-changing regulations and action on the passenger side.

The firm’s two-wheeler rides in particular have opened up a new market, and it has forced changes in the rules governing the market like a leader should, strengthening its position as the firm to challenge now, from a challenger just two years back.  So will it be a further shift towards last-mile goods transportation or a renewed push into the passenger side business? Your guess is as good as ours, as we track the company for future shifts.