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<ul><li><keyword id="20509" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="chalo" source="Orion">Chalo</keyword> on Monday announced the acquisition of tech-enabled shared mobility startup <keyword id="5042995" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vogo" source="Orion">Vogo</keyword>.</li><li>Vogo has raised nearly $180 million to date and counts Matrix Partners India, Kalaari Capital and Lightrock as investors.</li><li>Vogo will now switch to low-powered electric vehicles post this acquisition as they are more safer, suitable for short distances and cost effective.</li></ul>Nearly five months after <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/amazon-backed-office-shuttle-service-shuttl-finds-a-saviour-in-chalo/articleshow/87278431.cms">acquiring</a> Amazon-backed app-based office <keyword id="3009822" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="shuttl" source="Orion">shuttl</keyword>e service Shuttl, Chalo has acquired another one of its competitors in order to expand its business offering. The bus tracking app on Monday announced the acquisition of tech-enabled shared mobility startup Vogo for an undisclosed amount. Chalo believes that Vogo will augment the company’s bus technology services by powering first and last mile rides at major bus stops and other public places, which will allow users to travel to and fro from bus stops. Founded in 2016 by Anand Ayyadurai, Padmanabhan Balakrishnan, and Sanchit Mittal, the startup offers commuters round-the-clock petrol-powered scooter rental services. The company has raised nearly $180 million to date and counts Matrix Partners India, Kalaari Capital and Lightrock as investors. The founders and the team of Vogo would continue to be associated with the company, with Ayyadurai taking a leadership role at Chalo. Balakrishnan will be the new chief executive officer (CEO) of Vogo. “This acquisition offers Chalo key strategic gains. Now we will be able to offer a convenient and cost-effective option for bus passengers to travel to and from bus stops, solving the door-to-door daily commute. This will increase bus ridership and serve our core purpose of making travel more convenient and reliable for all,” Vinayak Bhavani, cofounder and chief technology officer (CTO) of Chalo, said. Pre-COVID, the company was fulfilling 50,000 rides in Hyderabad and Bengaluru on a daily basis, it claimed. However, Vogo will now switch to low-powered electric vehicles post this acquisition as they are more safer, suitable for short distances and cost effective. The company will also move beyond two-wheelers to offer other types of electric vehicles to suit market needs. “We have already begun our transition to a 100% electric fleet and will also expand into new vehicle categories to serve people better,” Vogo’s cofounder and latest CEO Balakrishnan, said. The development comes only a few months after Chalo raised $40 million in a round led by Lightrock India and Filter Capital. Notably, Lightrock is also an investor in Vogo. Chalo currently claims to have presence in 37 cities across 13 Indian states, including Delhi NCR, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and others. SEE ALSO <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/pvr-inox-leisure-gail-emami-among-hot-stocks-to-watch-out-for-on-march-28/slidelist/90485626.cms">PVR, INOX Leisure, GAIL, Emami among hot stocks to watch out for on March 28</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/whatsapp-is-testing-increasing-file-size-limit-from-100mb-to-2gb/articleshow/90487646.cms">You might soon be able to send up to 2GB of files on WhatsApp</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/cypher-capital-launches-100-million-blockchain-fund-with-an-aim-to-invest-40-of-it-in-crypto-startups-in-india/articleshow/90400157.cms">Cypher Capital launches $100 million blockchain fund, with an aim to invest 40% of it in crypto startups in India</a>

After Amazon-backed Shuttl, Chalo acquires another competitor Vogo

<ul><li><keyword id="20509" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="chalo" source="Orion">Chalo</keyword> operates nearly 15,000 buses across 31 cities — including Karnataka, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar.</li><li>The acquisition of <keyword id="3009822" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="shuttl" source="Orion">Shuttl</keyword> will allow Chalo to expand its presence in many parts of the country including metro cities.</li><li>Shuttl had raised $122 million from SIG Investments, <keyword id="18635" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon" source="Orion">Amazon</keyword>, Dentsu, Sequoia Capital and others.</li></ul>Amazon-backed app-based office shuttle service Shuttl — which announced closure of its operations in July this year — has been acquired by bus tracking app Chalo. Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed yet. The seven-year-old Chalo was founded by Vinayak Bhavnani and carwale.com’s cofounder Mohit Dubey. The company digitises buses by adding bus tracking services as well as contactless payments solutions. It operates nearly 15,000 buses across 31 cities — including Karnataka, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar. The company claims to complete 20 million rides on a monthly basis. Chalo has raised $47 million to date, with $40 million coming in Series C round raised last month. It is backed by former Google India executive Amit Singhal, Lightrock, Raine Ventures, WaterBridge Ventures and more. The acquisition of Shuttl will allow Chalo to expand its presence in many parts of the country including metro cities, Chalo’s founder and chief executive Mohit Dubey said. Chalo also believes that the acquisition could help the company broaden its technology as well as product offerings, and look at overseas expansion. “Chalo and Shuttl were already the largest brands in their space. Together we now fulfil more than 25 million rides per month, and aim for international expansion along with further growth in India as well,” Dubey said. Shuttl would continue to use the brand name ‘Shuttl’ even after the acquisition. The company’s current team, including the core team, will continue with their current roles. Why did Shuttl sell off? Shuttl was founded by Amit Singh and Deepanshu Malviya in 2015 and was the biggest private player in the intra-city bus services. The company specially focused on office commute and has garnered the interest of many investors since its inception. It has raised about $122 million (₹908 crore, at current conversion rate) to date from investors like Hong Kong-based venture capital firm SIG Investments, Amazon, Dentsu, Trifecta Capital, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed India Partners, and Times Internet. It claimed to be serving over 100,000 rides daily by running 2000 buses on an aggregator model across 150+ routes in the above-mentioned six cities. However, the company’s failure to pivot and cash burn rate is being cited as the reason for this company’s untimely shut down. <div type="image" title="Chalo acquires Amazon-backed office shuttle service Shuttl, four months after its shutdown" msid="87278410" hostid="261"></div> The company’s expenditure in FY20 alone was more than what the company has earned from operations since its inception. An investor, on the condition of anonymity, had previously told Business Insider that Shuttl can be absorbed by or merged into other mobility businesses to create a larger offering. “While for the buses, I don’t see an offering as such, but for the team, I see offerings in a Vogo, Rapido or in a Chalo. These are the outcomes I see. I see more of a startup merger than a traditional company buying it out,” the person added. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/failure-to-pivot-covid-19-blues-force-amazon-backed-shuttl-to-look-for-a-buyer/articleshow/84056797.cms">Failure to pivot, COVID-19 blues force Amazon-backed Shuttl to look for a buyer</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/ipo-bound-nykaa-plans-to-set-up-more-retail-stores-and-warehouse-for-ecommerce/articleshow/87274137.cms">Nykaa plans to go ‘aggressive’ with its retail store network, a vertical that contributes less than 10% to its revenue</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tech-mahindra-irctc-tata-power-are-bucking-the-trend-in-volatile-market/slidelist/87271983.cms">Tech Mahindra flies on strong revenue, Tata Power excites investors with EV push and IRCTC back on track after a lull week</a>

Amazon-backed office shuttle service Shuttl finds a saviour in Chalo

<ul><li>Two big multiplexes <keyword id="799" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pvr" source="Orion">PVR</keyword> and <keyword id="105311" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="inox-leisure" source="Orion">INOX Leisure</keyword> have decided to merge and thereby create the largest film exhibition company in India.</li><li>The combined entity will operate 1,546 screens across 341 properties and 109 cities.</li><li>Analysts say this merger was the last resort for multiplexes to continue doing this business at a time when they have been losing out to OTT behemoths.</li></ul>COVID-19 had left multiplexes with very little business alongside the growing popularity of over-the-top (OTT) platforms, which has now led to old competitors becoming partners. Two big multiplex chains, PVR and INOX Leisure, have decided to merge and thereby create the largest film exhibition company in India. The combined entity will be named as PVR INOX with branding of existing screens to continue as PVR and INOX respectively. New cinemas opened post the merger will be branded as PVR INOX. The combined entity will become the largest film exhibition company in India operating 1,546 screens across 341 properties and 109 cities. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">PVR </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">INOX Leisure </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">871 screens </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">675 screens </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Operates in 73 cities </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Operates in 72 cities </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Serves over 100 million patrons annually </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Serves close to 70 million patrons every year </td></tr></tbody></table>(Source: BSE statements) “The partnership of these two brands will put consumer at the centre of its vision and deliver an unparalleled movie going experience to them. The film exhibition sector has been one of the worst impacted sectors on account of the pandemic and creating scale to achieve efficiencies is critical for the long term survival of the business and fight the onslaught of digital OTT platforms,” Ajay Bijli, chairman and managing director of PVR said in a BSE statement. Further, Ajay Bijli would be appointed as the managing director and Sanjeev Kumar, director of INOX Leisure would be appointed as the executive director. Analysts say this merger was the last resort for multiplexes to continue doing this business at a time when they have been losing out to OTT behemoths. “Multiplex business is [a] very tough business with high capex [capital expenditure] and high fixed opex [operating expense]. Even in a fast-growing market like India, the multiplexes have been struggling to generate free cash flows. The business model in its current form is that of a glorified QSR [quick service restaurant] since more than 80% of the profits come from the sale of high-priced food and beverages. The movie screening business is break-even at best. Advertising revenues are limited to local area advertisers and some standard government ads,” said Abhay Agarwal, founder and fund manager at Piper Serica, a portfolio management service (PMS) provider. Agarwal added, “Footfalls are completely dependent on the quality of new releases, and the multiplexes have no control over that. Most importantly, they have been losing out to international OTT behemoths in terms of the release of new content. Therefore, this merger of PVR and INOX should be seen as a last resort defensive step to drive cost efficiencies.” <div type="image" title="PVR chart" height="900" width="1200" msid="90493427" hostid="261"></div> <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[]]></cdata></div> <div type="image" title="Inox chart" height="900" width="1200" msid="90493454" hostid="261"></div> SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/heres-what-supertech-25000-home-buyers-can-do/articleshow/90489946.cms">As Supertech goes bankrupt, these are the options home buyers have</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/after-amazon-backed-shuttl-chalo-acquires-another-competitor-vogo/articleshow/90492441.cms">After Amazon-backed Shuttl, Chalo acquires another competitor Vogo</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/whatsapp-is-testing-increasing-file-size-limit-from-100mb-to-2gb/articleshow/90487646.cms">You might soon be able to send up to 2GB of files on WhatsApp</a>

Harsh impact of COVID-19 leads two big multiplexes PVR and INOX to come together to save their castles

<ul><li><keyword id="23557" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="office">Office</keyword> <keyword id="3009822" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shuttl">shuttl</keyword>e service Shuttl is looking for buyers, as its operations were halted due to the pandemic.</li><li>Shuttl was fulfilling about 60,000 rides through 1200 <keyword id="6359670" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Buses">buses</keyword> before the pandemic hit.</li><li>It had also raised $7.7 million in total external funding, before India went into a lockdown last year.</li></ul>Over 10,000 companies ran out of business between March 2020 till February this year in India as per data from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, as the first wave of <keyword id="8763838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="covid-19">COVID-19</keyword> brought in a crunch in demand for several segments and changed the trends in many others. Those who managed to survive the disruption of the first wave, were faced with even more challenges during the second one that brought India to its knees. The app-based office shuttle service Shuttl may be the next in line to exit, as the pandemic has hit it quite hard. The company has officially <a href="https://twitter.com/amit___singh___/status/1409224576433672194">announced </a>that it is looking at a merger and acquisition (M&amp;A) deal with a few Indian and international companies. The company has also started shutting down its business and has laid off most of its workforce. Shuttl’s cofounder and chief executive officer (CEO) <keyword id="217165" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amit-Singh">Amit Singh</keyword>, in a Twitter thread, said, “It's sad that it has to come to this. In March 2020, we were on a tear. Fresh from a fund-raise in 2019. Growing fast on a base of 100k daily rides. Positive economics. Expresso, our new BU [business unit] for Intercity travel, growing vertically. About to expand internationally...” Singh highlighted that the company’s demand fell off the cliff due to the pandemic-induced lockdown, but it managed to overcome the hurdles somehow. However, the company was hit once again with the second wave of COVID-19, as it was getting its act together. “Companies went from ‘Let's plan a back-to-office party’ to ‘Let's wait until our employees are double-vaccinated’,” the CEO added. An investor in the company told Business Insider, on the condition of anonymity, that there was nothing really wrong with the company. The person added that Shuttl has enough cash in its bank account and had the runway to go on longer, but the uncertainty of COVID-19 was something the company could not fight off. The source echoed CEO Singh’s views that the company had somewhat recovered its business after the lockdown, but was hit by the second wave. “The question is when [will people go back to work] and how will this work-from-home culture impact mobility,” the investor added. Why couldn’t Shuttl find an alternative source of revenue? Shuttl was founded by Singh and Deepanshu Malviya in 2015 and has garnered the interest of many investors since its inception. The company has raised about $122 million (₹908 crore at current conversion rate) to date from investors like Hong Kong-based venture capital firm SIG Investments, <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword>, Dentsu, Trifecta Capital, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed India Partners, and Times Internet. Business Insider has reached out to both Singh and Malviya seeking comments for this story, but have not received a response at the time of publishing. We will be updating the story if and when we get a reply. It had expanded its presence across six Indian cities — Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai and Chennai — before the global pandemic hit India. It claimed to be serving over 100,000 rides daily by running 2000 buses on an aggregator model across 150+ routes in the above-mentioned six cities. The real question that arises here is that why did Shuttl not pivot to a different business model, just to sail through the pandemic. The company aggregated buses on the platform and these buses were used to provide pick up-and-drop services for office goers for a cost. The company would pay ₹2 per kilometre for the bus and charge ₹3 per kilometre from the customer. An investor in the startup ecosystem, who spoke to Business Insider on the condition of anonymity, believes that there could be about three potential reasons behind the company’s inability to pivot — cash crunch, founder fatigue or layoffs before they could figure out how to use their assets. The entire travel, mobility and tourism segment was deeply<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mobility-aggregator-hip-cabify-meep-viavan-blabla-car-coronavirus-travel-uber-bolt"> impacted</a> <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/failure-to-pivot-covid-19-blues-force-amazon-backed-shuttl-to-look-for-a-buyer/articleshow/84056797.cms">Failure to pivot, COVID-19 blues force Amazon-backed Shuttl to look for a buye</a>by the pandemic-induced lockdown and travel restrictions. Some of these companies, which also focused on office travel, found alternative business models to keep their fleet running or just earn enough money to manage their expenses. For instance, office commuters-focused mobility<a href="https://www.moveinsync.com/about-us/"> company MoveInSync</a> ended up getting into a software-as-a-service model by launching ‘<a href="https://www.workinsync.io/">WorkInSync</a>’. The company now focuses on helping its clients move into the hybrid workplace model and enhance the employee’s experiences. Many of these companies like bike taxi services across business to business (B2B) and business to customer (B2C) segments like Bounce, Rapido, ebikeGo and more decided to pivot their business models to keep the flow of money coming or accept the new normal and the trends it bought. Meanwhile, other intra-city mobility services like Chalo and Cityflo raised money from both new and existing investors between November 2020 to January 2021. However, some of these players may have faced a down round due to the ongoing condition, the investor mentioned above told Business Insider. A downround is a funding round raised at a lower valuation than the previous round. “What can you do with the buses? Use them for COVID care but that is not a business model. The other players in the segment Chalo etc., have made a path for themselves and are working on other things, the product, the technology, establishing networks within other cities even though the actual number of transactions has gone down,” the person added. Meanwhile, Shuttl’s investor emphasised, “It’s difficult to pivot into a completely different company. Amit [Singh] is exploring all the other options.” Shuttl’s failure to pivot, coupled with lack of cash flow, cuts lifeline Meanwhile the possibility of a cash crunch does not seem like the real problem as the company had closed its Series C round at ₹57 crore ($7.7 million at current conversion rate) in February 2020, a month before the lockdown. But the inability to pivot may have made the company go after its cash reserves. The company’s cash burn rate and lack of any alternative source of revenue could have cut its lifeline shorter. Shuttl earned an operational income of ₹142 crore in the financial year ended March 2020 (pre-pandemic), according to data platform Tofler. Its overall income -- from operations and investments -- was ₹148.6 crore, but it spent ₹314 crore to earn it. The company’s expenditure in FY20 alone was more than what the company has earned from operations since its inception. Shuttl earned about ₹299.14 crore between FY17-FY20 and spent ₹700.8 crore in the same time frame. Its assets grew about three times from ₹76 crore in FY19 to ₹202.5 crore FY20. Now that the company is looking for buyers, suitors could be other mobility companies that are looking to excel in the intra-city market space as despite the cash burn rate Shuttl did seem to provide convenient services. Moreover, the company and its remaining team does understand the segment well. The industry source mentioned above said, “They understand intra-city passenger behaviour well. What this can be merged into is any mobility business which is trying to access a similar audience, so they could really well be absorbed or merged with [such businesses]. While for the buses, I don’t see an offering as such, but for the team, I see offerings in a Vogo, Rapido or in a Chalo. These are the outcomes I see. I see more of a startup merger than a traditional company buying it out.” SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/online-buyers-can-make-money-from-flipkart-by-recommending-your-favourite-products/articleshow/84037399.cms">You can now make money from Flipkart by recommending your favourite products</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/tiger-global-overtakes-sequoia-as-the-top-investor-in-indian-unicorns-in-2021-cracks-15-deals-this-year-so-far/articleshow/83912624.cms">Tiger Global overtakes Sequoia as the top investor in Indian unicorns in 2021, cracks 15 deals this year so far</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/zomato-is-seeking-a-8-billion-valuation-in-its-ipo-does-it-make-sense/articleshow/83801848.cms">There are a few reasons why Zomato wants $8 billion valuation from its IPO — here's a look at if it makes sense</a>

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After Amazon-backed Shuttl, Chalo acquires another competitor Vogo

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Amazon-backed office shuttle service Shuttl finds a saviour in Chalo

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Harsh impact of COVID-19 leads two big multiplexes PVR and INOX to come together to save their castles

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Failure to pivot, COVID-19 blues force Amazon-backed Shuttl to look for a buyer

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