zingbus Secures Funding In Pre-Series A Round From Venture Catalysts, And Others The platform will utilize the funds to increase its operational footprint across the country and expand the scale of its fleet operations to 500 buses, with a view of fulfilling 1 million journeys in the next 12 months

Intercity bus aggregator zingbus that focuses on improving the levels of quality and safety in the intercity bus travel space, announced on Wednesday to have recently secured an undisclosed pre-Series A investment led by Venture Catalysts, Titan Capital, and Better Capital, along with Ritesh Agarwal, founder, OYO and Anupam Mittal, founder and CEO, People Group.

The funding round also saw participation from 9Unicorns accelerator fund, AdvantEdge Founders, Smile Internet, MG Group, and several other angel investors.

"We believe that the right to affordable and dignified travel is fundamental to human existence and development, and so aspire to provide access to safe, reliable, and affordable travel to everyone. We are delighted to have the support of industry leaders, and our journey looks bright under their guidance. With almost 10 million daily intercity bus rides in India, the overall market is worth $15 billion at present and is growing at a CAGR of 18 per cent. About 25 per cent of this market is semi-deluxe, air-conditioned buses, which will be zingbus's focus area for the next few years," said Prashant Kumar, co-founder, and CEO, zingbus.

Co-founded in 2019 by IIT Kharagpur graduates Prashant Kumar and Mratunjay along with Ravi Kumar Verma, the company aims to build India's largest and most trusted consumer brand for intercity mobility.

"A major part of the funds will be utilized in building a technology stack that will allow us to deliver a tenfold better experience to travelers at 10 per cent lesser fares and scale up to become the largest intercity bus fleet operator in the country," stated Ravi Kumar Verma, co-founder, and CTO, zingbus.

The platform will utilize the funds to increase its operational footprint across the country and expand the scale of its fleet operations to 500 buses, with a view of fulfilling 1 million safe and hassle-free journeys in the next 12 months.

"Travelers love the zingbus experience, and we are launching new services every week and shipping new products every fortnight. If anything, the COVID-19 outbreak has orchestrated a black swan event for startups like us to rise to the occasion and create technology that will be the preferred enabler for a future of safe and reliable travel," commented Mratunjay, co-founder and COO, zingbus.

It currently enables more than 2,000 daily journeys across Delhi/NCR, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Jammu, Haryana, and Punjab.

"zingbus is already India's highest-rated branded bus line that aggregates fleets of buses to deliver end-to-end and standardized intercity travel experiences at affordable prices. The platform has the potential to revolutionize the intercity travel services space in India and we are delighted to provide the support it needs to grow and scale its operations," shared Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, co-founder, and president, Venture Catalysts.

Taking insights from global players such as Flixbus, the company plans to run 2,500 buses across all the country's major travel corridors within the next three years.

"zingbus's technology provides a much better online presence as compared to traditional bus operators. It also reaches the end-customer digitally in a more effective manner. The brand has emerged as the most affordable service provider on popular routes through its unique route designs and dynamic pricing algorithms," added Bipin Shah, partner, Titan Capital.

The platform is launching new services every week and shipping new products every fortnight.

"zingbus is a true differentiator in its space, guided by its founders who hold profound domain insights and years of experience in the intercity travel industry. zingbus runs buses on specially designed routes which permit it to optimize the usage of assets and cater to more travelers per bus per day," concluded Kunal Khattar, managing partner and investorpreneur, AdvantEdge Technology Founders.