Pilani Soft Labs Pvt Ltd, the company behind bus ticketing service redBus, has raised second round of funding led by Inventus Capital Partners. Seedfund, an existing investor, also participated in the round. redBus has a network of over 500 bus operator partnerships covering over 5,000 routes in India.
The funds will be used by redBus to further increase the number of bus routes and tickets available on its platform while expanding its geographical footprint across the country. Parag Dhol from Inventus Advisory Services will join redBus’ board.
Another venture capital backed firm in this space is Ticketvala, which raised $2 million from Bangalore-based early stage venture firm Footprint Ventures in 2007. Heavily funded travel portals like MakeMyTrip and Yatra also have a presence in bus ticketing.
This would be Inventus’ third investment from a fund that invests in technology-powered companies addressing high-growth global and local markets.
“The fragmented bus travel market in India offers a significant aggregation opportunity. In redBus we see a set of young, enthusiastic entrepreneurs addressing a large and largely untapped opportunity. We hope to work closely with the founders, existing investor and advisors to create a unique and valuable brand," said Kanwal Rekhi, co-founder of Inventus Capital Partners.
“We have seen tremendous growth since inception, with bus operators and consumers validating our model. With this investment we hope to accelerate growth and further strengthen our position as the leading bus ticketing company,” said Phanindra Sama, co-founder and CEO of redBus.
