Bus aggregator ZipGo Technologies Pvt. Ltd has acquired Supreme Trans Concepts Pvt. Ltd to expand its services in Mumbai and enter the Pune market. Prashant Mohite, chief executive officer (CEO) of Supreme Trans Concepts, will continue to serve in the position, Supreme Trans Concept said in a statement.
With a fleet of 270 deluxe and air-conditioned buses, Supreme Trans Concepts provides intracity services between Hinjewadi and Magarpatta, among other routes, under the MetroZip and CityZip brands. It caters to 23,000 customers daily, generating annualised revenues of over ₹42 crore.
“Financially, the transaction is already accretive. Additional cost synergies will be realized over the next 3-6 months, by operating under the single ZipGo brand, moving MetroZip to the ZipGo technology platform and centralizing operational functions, which will further increase the profitability of the combined business. This acquisition will also help us accelerate our goal of bringing electric buses to market,” ZipGo CEO Jitender Kumar said. Supreme Trans Concepts is a clear market leader in Pune and ZipGo did not have presence in Pune and so this acquisition is synergistic, said Pritesh Gupta, chief operating officer of ZipGo.
“We will leverage ZipGo’s technology platform to improve customer experience and increase ridership in Pune,” added Gupta.
Founded in 2015 by Gaurav Agarwal, Jitender Kumar and Pritesh Gupta, ZipGo reserves seats for commuters on its buses through an app, similar to cab aggregators like Uber and Ola.
The company has raised about $55 million in capital so far from investors including Essel Group, Orios Venture Partners, Omidyar and Ventureast. It last raised ₹300 crore from Essel Group earlier this year. One of its competitors, Shuttl, owned by Super Highway Labs Pvt. Ltd, raised $11 million in a funding round led by Amazon India, Alexa Fund and Dentsu Ventures.
Source: Mint