{"id":265644,"date":"2025-07-15T01:16:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T01:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/265644\/"},"modified":"2025-07-15T01:16:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T01:16:11","slug":"iitian-still-remembers-each-of-75-rejections-but-went-on-to-build-a-rs-9500-crore-business-who-is-pavan-guntupalli-founder-of-rapido","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/265644\/","title":{"rendered":"IITian still remembers each of 75 rejections but went on to build a Rs 9,500 crore business. Who is Pavan Guntupalli, founder of Rapido?"},"content":{"rendered":"

While it\u2019s common to hear tales of Indian Institute of Technology<\/a> (IIT) alumni achieving stellar positions in global corporations, one particular journey stands out for breaking the mold\u2014a tale of entrepreneurship, resilience, and remarkable brand-building worth Rs 6,700 crore in under ten years. This narrative has become a beacon of motivation for many aspiring Indian entrepreneurs.Pavan Guntupalli: The Visionary Behind Rapido
Among the many successful IITians, Pavan Guntupalli\u2019s story shines as a standout example. Originating from Telangana, Guntupalli cracked the demanding IIT-JEE entrance exam and completed his B.Tech degree at IIT Kharagpur. He began his professional journey at tech giant Samsung before venturing into the startup world.
His initial business effort was a logistics venture named ‘theKarrier,’ which he co-founded with a friend. Despite their dedication, the company didn\u2019t take off and eventually shut down. Yet, Guntupalli remained undeterred. Using his learning from that setback, he launched Rapido<\/a>\u2014a bike-taxi and auto-rickshaw service aimed at offering quick and inexpensive commuting options to everyday riders.
Overcoming Investor Rejections
Bringing his vision to life wasn\u2019t easy. Convincing investors of Rapido\u2019s potential was a daunting challenge. Over 75 potential funders rejected the proposal, largely due to fears that the startup couldn\u2019t compete with dominant players. But Pavan’s determination never wavered.<\/p>\n

In an interview with NDTV Profit, he said that he still remembers the 75 rejections but acknowledges that some of them were valid. “We learnt from it,” he said.<\/p>\n

The Strategy That Made Rapido Unique
What gave Rapido an edge was its unconventional growth strategy. While most ride-hailing services zeroed in on India\u2019s metro cities, Rapido turned its focus to tier-1 and tier-2 towns, where mobility issues were widespread and solutions limited. Initially, the company offered highly competitive rates\u2014a base fare of Rs 15 and Rs 3 per kilometer\u2014prioritizing affordability even at the cost of profitability.This grassroots-level thinking paid off. Rapido gradually expanded across India and today operates in over 100 cities. Its mobile app has recorded over 5 crore downloads, and it boasts a dedicated network of 50,000 riders, referred to as \u201ccaptains,\u201d serving a growing user base of around 7 lakh active customers.A Billion-Rupee Brand
As of 2025, Rapido has grown into a solid brand valued at Rs 9,350 crore, as per a Tracxn.com report. According to a report by Inc42, the company\u2019s annual revenue has crossed Rs 1,000 crore, solidifying its position in India\u2019s fast-growing mobility sector\u2014all born from one man\u2019s refusal to quit after failure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While it\u2019s common to hear tales of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) alumni achieving stellar positions in global…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265645,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3094],"tags":[51,3134,101368,101367,101369,101365,101366,101371,101370,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-265644","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-entrepreneurship","10":"tag-entrepreneurship-success-stories","11":"tag-iit-alumni","12":"tag-indian-institute-of-technology","13":"tag-pavan-guntupalli","14":"tag-rapido","15":"tag-ride-hailing-services-in-india","16":"tag-startup-funding-challenges","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114854611138184539","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}