Chalo, public transport technology company has acquired Vogo, a tech-enabled shared mobility startup.
With this acquisition, Vogo will enhance Chalo’s bus technology services by empowering first and last-mile rides at major bus stops and other public locations.
Even after this acquisition, Vogo will continue to be known by the same brand name. Vogo founders Anand Ayyadurai and Padmanabhan Balakrishnan, and the rest of the Vogo team continue with Chalo and Vogo.
Ayyadurai will take on a new leadership role for the Chalo group. Balakrishnan, formerly the Chief Operating Officer of Vogo, will now serve as the Chief Executive Officer. Abhimanyu Goyal, who has been with the company for 5 years, and served as Vice President, Engineering, will now be promoted as Chief Technology Officer.
Sharath Parameswaran, who served as Vice President of Operations and Development, will now be promoted to Chief Business Officer of Vogo.
This will enable crores of bus users to easily commute to and from bus stops, and will further boost the number of bus riders, as it becomes more convenient to take a bus, the company said in a statement.
“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 serves our core purpose of making travel more convenient and reliable for all”, said, Vinayak Bhavnani, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Chalo.
Before COVID-19, Vogo was present in Hyderabad and Bengaluru, completing around 50,000 rides daily. Users can access petrol-powered two-wheelers through the app.
As a part of this acquisition, the company is switching to electric vehicles in its fleet. Low-powered electric two-wheelers are safer, more suitable for short distances, and also offer lower operating costs.
Vogo will also go beyond two-wheelers and offer other types of electric vehicles to suit the needs of the market.
“Given our shared DNA and values, we are pleased to join forces with the Chalo team. We have a common vision of solving the daily commute. Vogo democratised access to transport, and with Chalo we take this a step further in serving crores of people who rely on buses. We have already begun our transition to a 100 percent electric fleet and will also expand into new vehicle categories to serve people better”, said, Padmanabhan Balakrishnan, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Vogo.
Last year in October 2021, Chalo has raised $40 million in Series C funding round.
Mumbai-based Chalo has a presence in 37 cities across 13 Indian states including Maharashtra, Delhi NCR, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, and others.
