Public transport tech firm Chalo raises $7 million in recent funding

January 13, 2021: The public transport technology company Chalo today announced that it has raised $7 million in its latest round of funding.

This round includes Chalo’s existing investors Raine Ventures, the early-stage fund managed by The Raine Group, USA, Neeraj Arora (former chief business officer, WhatsApp) and Amit Singhal (former senior vice president and head of Google Search, Google). The new round of funding also saw participation from the family offices of Saket Burman of Dabur, Tarun Sawhney of Triveni Group, among others. With this latest round of funding, Chalo has raised a total of $30 Million till date.

Mohit Dubey, CEO, Chalo, 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 digitises these buses and makes them safe and reliable - with live tracking and contactless digital payment. We are building a unique company to improve the 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 cites as well.”

Today, Chalo is present in 30 cities and provides solutions for consumers as well as for bus operators. The Chalo App offers live bus tracking showing live arrival times of the buses and a live passenger indicator that shows how crowded the bus is in real-time. Bus passengers can also buy mobile tickets and bus passes on the Chalo App, or choose to scan QR codes in buses to pay digitally for their bus ticket.

For those who are not comfortable using their mobile phones for payments, Chalo offers the Chalo Card – an NFC touch-to-pay smartcard which can store a pre-paid wallet and travel passes.

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. 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. Chalo has also launched its Chalo Card in 12 cities across the country.