Chalo’s Second Acquisition With Two-Wheeler Rental Startup Vogo

Chalo’s second acquisition: Chalo, a public transportation technology platform, announced the acquisition of scooter rental company Vogo on Monday, 6 months after purchasing the business of bus aggregator Shuttl for an undisclosed sum.

The new takeover, according to Chalo, would bolster its bus technology offerings by enabling first- and last-mile trips at major bus stops and other public locations.

Vogo is foraying into the electric vehicle industry as part of the deal, with plans to grow beyond two-wheelers and provide additional sorts of EVs.

Following the acquisition, Vogo will continue to operate under the same brand name, as will its founders Anand Ayyadurai and Padmanabhan Balakrishnan, as well as the rest of the Vogo team.

Vogo, created in 2016 by Anand Ayyadurai and Padmanabhan Balakrishnan, operated in Hyderabad and Bengaluru, completing roughly 50,000 trips per day when Covid-19 hit, wreaking havoc on the shared mobility industry.

It is backed by the following investor Matrix Partners, Kalaari, Lightrock, and Stellaris Venture Partners.

“This purchase provides Chalo with significant strategic benefits. We will now be able to provide a simple and cost-effective way for bus riders to get to and from bus stops, eliminating the daily trek from door to door. This will boost bus ridership and further our mission of making travel more easy and dependable for everyone,” said Chalo Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Vinayak Bhavnani.

Founded in 2014 by Mohit Dubey, Nikhil Aggarwal, and Vinayak Bhavnani, the company also offers contactless payment solutions with the goal of making bus travel safer. With the last fundraising in October, Zophop Technologies Pvt Ltd which runs the Chalo business has raised a total of $62 million.