Latest News | Chalo Raises USD 7 Mn in Funding from Raine Ventures, Others

New Delhi, Jan 13 (PTI) Public transport technology company Chalo on Wednesday said it has raised USD 7 million (over Rs 51 crore) in funding from Raine Ventures and others.

This round includes Chalo's existing investors Raine Ventures, the early-stage fund managed by The Raine Group, USA, Neeraj Arora (former WhatsApp executive) and Amit Singhal (former Google executive), a statement said.

The new round of funding also saw participation from the family offices of Saket Burman of Dabur, Tarun Sawhney of Triveni Group, among others, it added.

With this latest round of funding, Chalo has raised a total of USD 30 million till date, the statement said.

"In India, and in many developing countries, buses are non-discretionary. As soon as cities were unlocked, we saw millions of commuters returning to buses. Buses are not just the most affordable means to commute, they are fundamental for the cities' economy and revival," Chalo CEO Mohit Dubey said.

Chalo digitises these buses and makes them safe and reliable with live tracking and contactless digital payment. Currently, Chalo is present in 30 cities and provides solutions for consumers as well as for bus operators.

"We are building a unique company to improve experience in stage-carriage buses using a full tech stack. We are fortunate to have amazing investors who have partnered with us to build a better public transport solution for cities in India. We will soon be doing this in international cities as well," Dubey said.

The funds raised will be utilised for expanding Chalo's network into multiple cities as well as to increase the penetration of digital tickets technology in its existing cities, the statement said.

With the enhanced focus on safety and eliminating contact post COVID-19, Chalo has seen an increased demand for digital tickets, live bus tracking and live passenger indicator.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)