RodBez: Transportation Startup Ideas

RodBez is a taxi-based service startup. Their main objective is to offer cheap and affordable rides to customers while ensuring that taxi drivers associated with them earn more by ₹10000-15000 per month and the people of the region are able to save their money. This is done by ensuring the coordination between passengers and taxi drivers. RodBez acts as a link between both of them. This helps taxi drivers to get the two-way charge.

Company Details of RodBez Startup Ideas

RodBez is the startup that began in May 2022 in Darbhanga, Bihar. It has authorized capital of ₹10 lakh and paid-up capital of ₹8 Lakh. Its company name is Difely Mobility India Pvt Ltd. RodBez’s mission is to provide affordable intercity rides for customers while ensuring that taxi drivers earn higher incomes through our platform compared to other servers.

Ownership of RodBez Startup Ideas

RodBez was founded by Dilkhush Kumar and Siddhart Shankar Jha who are from Saharsa, Bihar. Equity split of the company is as follows:

• Dilkhush Kumar - 80%
• Siddhart Jha - 5%
• Mentors and Investors - 15%

Business Model of RodBez Startup Ideas

RodBez aims to fulfill the needs of both the society and the drivers. The customers are able to book rides through the mobile application. Rodbez operates majorly in Bihar and seeks to provide intercity connectivity at affordable rates. The revenue generated through each taxi is around ₹1 Lakh. Through each taxi, they are able to derive a profit of around ₹65,000 out of which ₹45,000 is paid to the taxi drivers per month irrespective of the revenue generated by them and the net commission is ₹20,000 per taxi.

Products and Services of RodBez Startup Ideas

The application solves the problem of unorganized taxi services in Bihar. The taxi driver is not able to get a return passenger at the time of return, due to which the passenger has to pay both-side taxi fares even for a one-way journey. Rodbez solves this issue by providing pre-booking facilities to passengers and informing them about the timings of the availability of taxis. The software application acts as a link between the passengers and the taxi drivers. It increases the drivers’ income as well as saves the money of passengers. More details about their services can be found at: https://www.rodbez.in/.

Business Valuation of RodBez Startup Ideas

RodBez presented their pitch in Shark Tank India season 3 seeking an investment of ₹50 Lakhs for 5% equity at a business valuation of ₹10 Cr.

• Aman Gupta: He did not give an offer by stating that their runway is very short. Short runway means that the area covered by them is less which in turn leads to less profits so it may go into risky territory.

• Peyush Bansal: He suggested that they should raise money from their current investors. He rejected the offer.

• Vineeta Singh: She said that the problem in this business is that the service is good only in the beginning and it degrades with time so such companies are not able to sustain in the long run.

• Ritesh Agarwal: He was really happy to see that people from rural areas came up with such creative ideas. The founders’ ability to learn from the limited resources impressed him.

• Anupam Mittal: Anupam says that he has invested in a lot of mobility companies and understands well the problems that are going to arise in scaling and the company did not have enough funding. Thus, he did not invest.

• Vineeta Singh and Ritesh Agarwal gave a combined offer for the deal at ₹20 Lakh for 5% equity and debt at 12% interest for 2 years with a company valuation of ₹4 Cr. The founders accepted Vineeta’s and Ritesh’s offer.

BizFoc Analysis of Shark Decisions of RodBez Startup Ideas

The sharks analyzed various issues such as scalability and availability of funds as the company was burning around ₹150000 per month. This was leading them to take more debt. The sharks were greatly impressed by the clarity of thought the pitchers had. The sharks appreciated the awareness they had regarding their business model and the outsourcing activities.

Some Key Strengths and Weaknesses of RodBez Startup Ideas

Strengths:

• Local Market Knowledge: The pitchers had clarity of thought and action as they were well aware of the problems faced by passengers as well as the drivers.
• Market Demand: There is a huge demand for an organized taxi service, especially in the rural and semi-rural areas.

Weaknesses:

• Lack of Funds: There is a great shortage of funds with the pitchers as they are burning ₹1.5 Lakhs per month and they are left with only ₹4 Lakhs in their bank account.
• Short Runway: Aman points out that the company's runway is very short and thus it is a risky business.

Future of RodBez Startup Ideas

The pitchers aim at making RodBez a 100-150 Cr company in the next 10 years and strive to be profitable in the next few months. When it comes to the progress of RodBez, the company is steadily gaining momentum. Its dual revenue streams are fueling this progress: one comes from the commission earned from taxi drivers, and the other from a range of services offered to customers.

Conclusion

RodBez pitch highlighted key strengths in their business model and product. The Sharks were concerned about the short runway and shortage of funds. They were impressed by the clarity of thought of the founders. Further, Shark Namita and Ritesh felt that investing in this could be profitable and hence, the founders got a deal at a valuation of ₹4 Cr.

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