Cab-hailing startup Rapido has rolled out its food delivery app, Ownly, catering to selected areas in Bengaluru. The app is currently only available on the Google Play Store, and services areas including Koramangala, BTM Layout, and HSR, according to reports.
The company’s plans to enter the segment ruled by listed giants Zomato and Swiggy were disclosed earlier this year. Similar to how the company broke into the cab-hailing space that was once ruled by Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Consumer and US-based Uber, the firm is rolling out a commission-free model to enable restaurants to pocket more money from food orders and also reduce the cost of food being delivered to users.
Rapido’s foray comes as the food delivery industry is witnessing a slowdown amid lower consumer demand and rising quick commerce competition, hurting operational efficiency. Both Zomato and Swiggy saw a de-growth in gross order values for the segment in Q4 FY25, declining by 1.36% and 1.2%, respectively.
In its latest earnings, Swiggy saw its core food delivery segment grow just 10% on a sequential basis to Rs 2080 crore in operating revenue. Zomato, Eternal’s food delivery arm, clocked just 10% growth in food delivery revenues to Rs 2,657 crore on a sequential basis.
The sector is also seeing growing popularity from private labels like Snacc, Bistro and Zepto Cafe run by quick commerce platforms. The issue has been a point of contention between NRAI and food delivery aggregators.
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Rapido, backed by Swiggy, is also about to see a shake-up in its cap table with Swiggy looking to sell its 12% stake in the company due to the arising conflict of interest between the two companies.
During the Sriharsha Majety-led Swiggy’s post-earnings call last month, the company said it is “actively re-evaluating” its minority stake in Rapido after the company disclosed plans to enter the food delivery segment.
Additionally, Rapido is also piloting a car- and bike-pooling app, Hopr, housed under a separate parent entity housed under Flexiride Solutions—a separate parent entity headed by Rapido executives, YourStory had previously reported. The company is also planning to set up a separate fintech subsidiary, sources told YourStory.
Edited by Kanishk Singh
