Barely months after wading into the food delivery arena dominated by Swiggy and Zomato, Rapido is shifting gears again. Having built its empire on bike taxis, the ride-hailing major now wants to milk the massive $23 Bn Indian travel tech industry.

Just last week, the company, in partnership with established giants like Goibibo, redBus and ConfirmTkt, forayed into online travel aggregation (OTA), integrating flight, hotel, bus, and train bookings directly into its app. The experiment is audacious, especially for a company still wrestling with the high-stakes, cash-guzzling worlds of ride-hailing and food delivery.

To Rapido’s credit, it has always been known for its ambition and penchant for disrupting markets – be it via the subscription-led model in ride-hailing or the “zero commission” strategy in food delivery.

However, the latest foray isn’t just another expansion — it is a fundamental test of the company’s ride-hailing identity. For a startup that raised $200 Mn just last year, chasing the “super app” dream suggests aggressive ambition, but does Rapido have the bandwidth and capital to pull off this multi-front war? Or is it risking the very focus that made it a leader?

Breaking Down Rapido’s OTA Play

On the surface, Rapido’s move into the OTA segment seems reactive – patching an affiliate service to its existing app to capitalise on the booming travel market and capture a larger share of its users’ wallets.........

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