redBus is an Indian online bus ticket booking company that provides bus ticket booking through its
website and
iOS and
Android mobile apps. It is headquartered in
Bangalore and works like a hub, acting as a medium for a network of more than 3500 bus operators,[3][4] across the countries of
India,
Malaysia,
Indonesia,
Singapore,
Peru, and
Colombia. It claims to have registered over 180 million trips,[3] with a customer base of over 20 million.[3] In 2018, the company achieved a
GMV of ₹50 billion (equivalent to ₹67 billion or US$840 million in 2023), with a 70% share in the Indian online bus ticketing segment.[4]
redBus was founded in 2006 by Phanindra Sama,[6] Sudhakar Pasupunuri and Charan Padmaraju, engineers from the
Birla Institute of Technology and Science ,[7] who also worked together at various organisations before founding the company. With an initial investment of ₹500,000 (equivalent to ₹1.6 million or US$20,000 in 2023), the founders began operations in 2006, by tying up with various travel agents for seat reservations through the redBus portal. In the same year the company was selected for the TiE
Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program and was mentored on several aspects of the business.[8] The company owns BOGDS, a cloud computing service for
bus operators, and SeatSeller, a GDS for bus inventory distribution.[9]
In 2012, redBus tied-up with
Goa State Road Transport to launch an online ticketing portal. In the same year, the company announced a partnership with the
Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation (
RSRTC), following which it started offering
RSRTC bus tickets on the portal.[12][13] Early in 2019, redBus partnered with
Acko General Insurance to offer
travel insurance for its users to cover
accidents, baggage loss, cancellation and bus-type mismatch.[4] It also partnered with
Truecaller, to offer bus ticket booking on
Android devices.[14] redBus afterwards announced a partnership with
Google Maps to display information on busses that ply between cities with the time and date services to enhance user experience.[15][16]
June 2019, redBus started ride sharing operations - rPool, across Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad. rPool is an option that helps ride givers to share(pool) their vehicle to fellow ride takers.[17][18][19]
On 26 November 2019, redBus partnered with
AmazonIndia to launch a bus ticket booking service on Amazon.[20][21]
Funding
In 2007, redBus received its first round of funding of $1 million (₹30 million) from SeedFund[8] and undisclosed investors. SeedFund had invested $500,000 in the company while other investors accounted for the remaining $500,000 investment.[12]
In 2009, the company raised a funding of a $2.5 million from Inventus Capital Partners, Seed Fund and other unnamed
investors.[5][12]
In 2011, redBus raised another funding of $6.5 million from Helion Venture Partners, Seedfund and Inventus Capital.[5][7]
2015: ‘The Most Trusted Brand’ by IBC InfoMedia in 2015[24]
2015: Most trusted brand in the online travel category and the 13th most trusted internet brand in the overall rankings as per the Brand Trust Report, India Study 2015.