Mobility businesses across the world received severe impact due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Shuttl (1), a Gurugram-based startup for office commute and Ola, Rapido, Uber, Bounce, and Vogo, face the loss in business since a significant piece of companies are yet to open.
Amidst operation disruptions, Shuttl has started testing the international market. An anonymous source stated that the office commute platform is preparing for the Bangkok launch for the last couple of months. Moreover, the company has also hired almost half a dozen people to form a local team.
It is worth noting that the company’s expansion news came when it is severely impacted due to the pandemic. Sources also tell that the company has observed a recovery to some extent in business in the last three to fourth months. However, it is still below 50% when compared to the pre-COVID peak.
Shuttl in Preparation for a Separate App for Thailand Market
Sources also suggest that Shuttle is preparing a separate app for the Thailand market. Interestingly. Toyota, the startup investor, has a strong presence in Thailand and has been helping the firm raise local support and team.
The new position of the startup is also indicating and confirming its global ambition. As per its description, Shuttl is the no. one office bus app in the world.
After Ola, who runs its operations in Australia, UK, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, Shuttl has become the second Indian mobility startup to foray into the overseas market. Other notable Indian startups with global operations include Byju’s, Meesho, CarDekho, Practo, and few others.
Shuttl had laid off more than 40 employees and slashed salaries across March this year to survive the pandemic. The company also recently expanded its ESOPs pool by adding options worth 24.1 crore INR. With the latest addition, the company’s ESOPs pool has now reached 122 crore INR worth.
Since its inception in 2015, Shuttle has secured around 90 million USD in total debt and equity capital. Its investors include Toyota Tusho Corporation, Sequoia, Amazon, Lightspeed, Dentsu, and others. According to the estimates, the company has surpassed 1500 crore INR in valuation in its last infusions in the Series C funding round in January 2020.
