redBus

redBus is an Indian online bus ticket booking company that provides bus ticket booking through its website and iOS and Android mobile apps. It is headquartered in Bangalore and works like a hub, acting as a medium for a network of more than 3500 bus operators,[3][4] across the countries of India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Peru, and Colombia. It claims to have registered over 180 million trips,[3] with a customer base of over 20 million.[3] In 2018, the company achieved a GMV of ₹50 billion (equivalent to ₹67 billion or US$840 million in 2023), with a 70% share in the Indian online bus ticketing segment.[4]

redbus
TypePrivate
IndustryOnline travel
Founded2006[1]
Founders
  • Phanindra Sama
  • Charan Padmaraju
  • Sudhakar Pasupunuri
Headquarters
Bangalore, Karnataka
,
India
Area served
Key people
  • Prakash Sangam (CEO)
  • Anoop Menon (CTO)
ProductsBooking buses, trains and cabs
RevenueUS$85 million (2019)[2]
Parent[MakeMyTrip Limited (MMYT)]
Websitewww.redbus.in

In 2013, redBus was acquired by Ibibo Group.[5]

History

redBus was founded in 2006 by Phanindra Sama,[6] Sudhakar Pasupunuri and Charan Padmaraju, engineers from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science ,[7] who also worked together at various organisations before founding the company. With an initial investment of ₹500,000 (equivalent to ₹1.6 million or US$20,000 in 2023), the founders began operations in 2006, by tying up with various travel agents for seat reservations through the redBus portal. In the same year the company was selected for the TiE Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program and was mentored on several aspects of the business.[8] The company owns BOGDS, a cloud computing service for bus operators, and SeatSeller, a GDS for bus inventory distribution.[9]

Operation

In 2014, the company appointed Prakash Sangam[10] as its Chief executive officer, who was earlier the Executive Vice President of Info Edge India (Naukri Group), heading Shiksha.com and Jeevansathi.com.[11] In April 2022, redBus appointed Allu Arjun, as its brand ambassador.[3]

Partnership

In 2012, redBus tied-up with Goa State Road Transport to launch an online ticketing portal. In the same year, the company announced a partnership with the Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation (RSRTC), following which it started offering RSRTC bus tickets on the portal.[12][13] Early in 2019, redBus partnered with Acko General Insurance to offer travel insurance for its users to cover accidents, baggage loss, cancellation and bus-type mismatch.[4] It also partnered with Truecaller, to offer bus ticket booking on Android devices.[14] redBus afterwards announced a partnership with Google Maps to display information on busses that ply between cities with the time and date services to enhance user experience.[15][16]

June 2019, redBus started ride sharing operations - rPool, across Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad. rPool is an option that helps ride givers to share(pool) their vehicle to fellow ride takers.[17][18][19]

On 26 November 2019, redBus partnered with Amazon India to launch a bus ticket booking service on Amazon.[20][21]

Funding

In 2007, redBus received its first round of funding of $1 million (₹30 million) from SeedFund[8] and undisclosed investors. SeedFund had invested $500,000 in the company while other investors accounted for the remaining $500,000 investment.[12]

In 2009, the company raised a funding of a $2.5 million from Inventus Capital Partners, Seed Fund and other unnamed investors.[5][12]

In 2011, redBus raised another funding of $6.5 million from Helion Venture Partners, Seedfund and Inventus Capital.[5][7]

In 2013, redBus was acquired by Ibibo Group, a subsidiary of South Africa’s Naspers.[6][7][5] rufherugferfhh <hytml> <

Awards and recognition
  • 2012: Named as a Fast Company amongst the world's 50 most innovative companies in 2012[7]
  • 2014: ‘Global Mobile Innovation’ in Travel Award by Eyefortravel[22]
  • 2014: the Most Innovative Company of the Year award by Business Standard[23]
  • 2015: ‘The Most Trusted Brand’ by IBC InfoMedia in 2015[24]
  • 2015: Most trusted brand in the online travel category and the 13th most trusted internet brand in the overall rankings as per the Brand Trust Report, India Study 2015.

See also

References
  1. "redBus Eyes Next Phase Of Growth From Further Expanding International Ops". Inc42 Media. 10 August 2019. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  2. "redBus eyes revving up bus ticketing revenues from overseas operations". Business Standard India. 27 February 2020. Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  3. Tewari, Saumya (15 April 2019). "redBus appoints Mahendra Singh Dhoni as brand ambassador". Mint. Archived from the original on 18 July 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  4. Srivats, K R (16 January 2019). "Acko partners Goibibo for travel insurance foray". Business Line. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  5. "Tencent, Naspers JV Ibibo Buys Redbus To Grow Its Online Travel Empire In India". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  6. Millward, Steven (24 June 2013). "Why Sell to Ibibo? And Why Now? Redbus CEO Phanindra Sama Explains". Tech in Asia. Archived from the original on 31 July 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  7. Sharma, Samidha (22 June 2013). "redBus sold to Ibibo in one of the biggest overseas internet deals". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  8. Warrier, Shobha (19 October 2010). "The amazing success story of redBus". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 4 August 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  9. "Naspers-owned redBus completes 30M ticket sales, sees 3X growth in mobile transactions". Techcircle. 16 July 2014. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  10. "About Red Bus". Archived from the original on 10 June 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  11. "ibiboGroup appoints Prakash Sangam as redBus CEO, founders fully exit the startup". Techcircle. 11 July 2014. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  12. "RedBus Announces Tie-Up With RSRTC". Medianama. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  13. Dharmakumar, Rohin (5 March 2012). "Redbus Has The Hot Ticket". Forbes India. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  14. Singh, Jagmeet (1 April 2019). "Truecaller, RedBus Partner to Offer Bus Ticket Booking on Android Devices". Gadgets (NDTV). Archived from the original on 18 July 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  15. "redBus Is Now ON Google Maps". Digit.in. 31 August 2018. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  16. "Roundup: Mahindra Pantero, MakeMyTrip, RedBus, Mahindra Comviva". Medianama. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  17. "Bikepool & Carpool for Professionals". Archived from the original on 28 April 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  18. "RedBus Launches Carpooling Service rPool in Three Cities". 12 June 2019. Archived from the original on 10 December 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  19. Singh, Shipra. "RedBus launches carpooling". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  20. "Amazon India launches bus ticket bookings in tie-up with redBus". 26 November 2019. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  21. "Bus ticketing platform redBus estimates 75 lakh Indians travelling during Republic Day weekend". Business Today. 26 January 2023. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  22. "EyeforTravel: Online Travel Insights". Eyefortravelblog. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  23. "BS Annual Awards: Saluting the spirit of entrepreneurship". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  24. "e-Brands Face Trust Shuffle: Brand Trust Report Google leads for fifth year; Facebook falls; Twitter misses the bus". The Brand Trust Report. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
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