Amid the many budding entrepreneurs coming up, there are some who aspire to make a difference to the society through their innovation. For the 30-year-old Rajkumar Mundel, it is solving Pune's traffic woes through his start-up called Let's Ride, that takes precedence.
Amid the many budding entrepreneurs coming up, there are some who aspire to make a difference to the society through their innovation. For the 30-year-old Rajkumar Mundel, it is solving Pune's traffic woes through his start-up called Let's Ride, that takes precedence.
A graduate from Army Institute of Technology, Pune, Mundel wants to facilitate a car pooling. Before starting off on his own, he has worked with IT majors like Infosys, Oracle, and Sears Holding, in a career spanning six years.
In an interview, he talks about his venture, Let's Ride.
What inspired you to start Let’s Ride?
While working in the IT sector for six years, I was always looking for a convenient option to get to work. That's where the idea of Let's Ride was born. I wanted to help professionals like me – I wanted to make their stressful travel instant but affordable.
How does Let’s Ride work?
Let’s Ride is like mini Twitter for the ride sharing community. It was launched in September 2013, and we introduced the Let’s Ride app for Pune on November 16 this year.
We provide a social platform for bike and car owners to share details so they can help people commuting in the same direction, hitch a ride.
To use the feature, you'll have to register on our website or app and provide certain details. Then you can request for a ride by providing the pick up and destination details. You'll then get instant options of vehicles that are available on the route you've entered. Accept one of them, and you can make the payment through a MobiKwik account, which means it is also cashless.
On the flipside, even vehicle owners can share their vehicle and destination details on Let’s Ride. Based on this, they will get a list of commuters who are travelling in that direction and want to share a ride. Then the process remains the same.
How much do you charge commuters and is it affordable than the other options available?
We charge Rs 5 per km + Rs 15 basic charge, which is affordable and lower than other private travel options.
What were the major challenges that you faced?
The only problem we faced was about creating awareness and the willingness to share a ride. Both car owners and passengers keep changing; while there are times vehicle owners can't find people to share their ride, sometimes there are also those who can't find the desired cab sharing options.
What about the safety of the commuters?
When a user registers with us, we seek certain details like their work e-mail, Facebook profile details and profile picture. We have a verification process in place that takes about 21 days post registration, wherein the details are verified in person.
How has the response been so far?
We have received good response so far, and the word of mouth spread further. Within a period of two years, we have managed to get about 12,000 users (about 6,000 from Pune), with 25,000-28,000 intracity and 450-plus intercity (Pune-Mumbai) shared rides till now.
Have you received any funding so far?
We don’t have any financer as of now but we are in talks with a few fund raisers.
How are the financials so far?
In the initial two years, we didn’t earn any revenue as such. But the launch of the mobile app has helped us earn a good amount of revenue.
What are your expansion plans?
We are working to introduce scheduled rides in the near future. Also, currently our app is available to users in Pune but we are also planning to expand in major metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai.
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