2.

What were the PE

deals?
Funding
• In 2007, as interest in RedBus grew, the founders decided to run their first round of
funding in February.
• This one got them an investment of USD 1million. Consequently, they ran three more
rounds in 2009, 2011, and 2012, and raked in total funding of USD 10.1 million.
• The lead investors included Seedfund, Helion Venture Partners, and Inventus Capital
Partners.
• However, things changed in the Series D funding round of RedBus in 2013.
• Ibibo group came in, and not only to pitch an investment but also to co-opt the company.
• If RedBus would agree to the deal, it would be one of the biggest acquisitions for an
Indian start-up at the time. It would put Indian start-ups on the map and help RedBus
grow into what the founders wanted. And so the tie-up was greenlit. In 2013, RedBus
became a subsidiary of the international giant- Ibibo Group.
Funding
• “We were doing our series D fundraise, Ibibo Group offered us an
attractive proposition. The deal appeared good from all perspectives –
Ibibo is a part of a respectable company, Naspers; their travel
business was gaining very good traction in India; they have a very
strong technology background; the team was young, we found an
instant match, and the valuation was fair”,
 said Phanindra Sharma in an interview.
• While the financial details of the deal are not out in the public
domain, rumor mills say that the company was taken up for anywhere
around $130 million USD.
Growth and Future
• While many have questioned RedBus’ acquisition, for the founders, it
made perfect sense as they wanted to have an international presence.
• By 2013, they had absolutely monopolized the Indian market by
selling upwards of 1 million tickets a month.
• They were also operational in every city that they could have a
feasible presence in. The next step was to head outside the country.
• While the founders themselves departed a year after the acquisition
(which they had planned even before the Ibibo acquisition came in),
RedBus kept on growing as a company and as a brand.
Growth and Future
• RedBus is now an international brand where it is catering to multiple
countries across the globe.
• This includes Singapore, Malaysia, Colombia, Peru, and Indonesia. 
• In India itself, the company is showing a whopping 80% year on year growth
and has 1800 bus operators on board, as of 2017. Apart from private bus
services, even state driven bus services, i.e., the buses of the State Road
Transport Corporations are on RedBus. 
• The company is now one of the largest bus ticketing services online and has
8 million customers. The plan is to expand further in the coming years and
as Phanindra Sharma said during the Ibibo acquisition – “the best is yet to
come”.