Defying COVID-19 crisis, Gurgaon-based start-up Yolobus has secured a $3.3 million Series A round of financing. Nexus Venture Partners led the investment round with investment from India Quotient. This brings Yolobus’ total funding since launching its smart intercity bus services in India to $4.1 million. Suvir Sujan, Managing Director of Nexus Venture Partners and Anand Lunia, General Partner, India Quotient will be joining the board.
Bus transport in India has been a gruelling, unsafe, unhygienic, untimely experience for travellers so far and Yolobus aims to solve this with its new age services. Speaking about the investment, Suvir Sujan, Managing Director, Nexus Venture Partners said, “Built on the pillars of Safety, Comfort and Convenience, the Yolobus team is using technology and data science to redefine intercity bus travel experience. I am excited to partner with them in their journey.” Anand Lunia, General Partner, India Quotient who has also invested, said, “The bus ride, a primary mode of inter-city travel, is still stuck in the previous decade. I am confident that Yolobus will bring in a full-stack experience to the bus ride.”
The Series A financing builds on an exceptional first year for Yolobus, a bus travel company founded by Shailesh Gupta, Mukul Shah and Danish Chopra in August 2019. Yolobus is witnessing a rapidly growing market momentum in its very first 6 months. They recently launched services in the North-eastern region in May 2020.
“As an industry we’re just scratching the surface of how India’s bus services can be when married to our uber offerings of safety, sanitisation and comfort,” feels Yolobus Founder & CEO, Shailesh Gupta.
“Having the financial support and business expertise of Nexus Venture Partners and India Quotient will help us execute our vision faster and better.”
Yolobus will resume its operations with extensive precautionary measures for every trip. Every passenger will be checked with infra-red temperature measuring guns before onboarding. Customers can pre-order essential PPE kits and know the temperature of the bus crew members before boarding the bus. Commenting on this investment, Mukul Shah, COO & Founder, Yolobus said “Our services are based on extensive market research to provide hassle free travel experience to our patrons This funding is a reiteration of our promise to keep improving our services keeping in mind the market need of safety and hygiene, especially.” .” The company is introducing a sanitization tunnel for passengers before onboarding. The captain, along with the bus driver and staff will wear PPE kits for safety. The funds raised will be used to double down its investments across technology, customer & crew safety, sanitisation and territory expansion plans. Danish Chopra, CTO and Founder, Yolobus, said , “Indian bus travellers’ expectations have changed. It is time that services do so too. With this funding, we will be able to focus with greater force on our technology and create an even better experience for our customers.”