Chiratae Ventures Seed Funds Travel Guarantee Startup Railofy The fund of Rs 7 crore will be utilized to scale Railofy's presence across country post-lockdown
By Debarghya Sil •
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Railofy—a startup that provides travel guarantee to waitlisted (WL) or reservation against cancellation (RAC) passengers in the Indian Railways—on Thursday announced it has raised INR 7 crore in a seed round from Chiratae Ventures. The startup will utilize fresh funds to scale their presence across India post-lockdown.
The startup provides flight tickets to WL and RAC passengers if their tickets are not confirmed so that they can reach their destination.The firm for shorter distances provides buses at nominal prices if train ticket is not confirmed.
The startup commenced their trials in January 2020 on selected trains from Mumbai and witnessed within 1.5 months, there were more than 60,000 visits, selling hundreds of WL and RAC protections on these routes.
How does It work?
Passengers after purchasing railway tickets can buy the protection from Railofy's portal to ensure that their trips are not cancelled. If a ticket fails to get confirmation even after chart preparation, then the app will provide a flight or a bus depending on the distance at a price close to the train's ticket cost. Railofy fixes the price for flight/bus options at the time of purchasing WL and RAC protection itself.
Founded in 2019 by three friends Rohan Dedhia, Vaibhav Saraf, and Hrishab Sangbhi, the startup is trying to solve the railway waiting problem that affects more than 300 million passengers trips every year. Railofy uses technology such as asset-light model to help waiting railway passengers to connect to other modes of transport at an affordable price.
Commenting on the fresh capital, the trio said in a joint statement, "This platform is dedicated to every railway passenger who could not finish their journey because of an unconfirmed ticket. Thus leaving them with either expensive alternatives, dealing with unreliable agents, or altogether canceling their plans. We aim to replace these de-railed experiences with stories of convenience and comfort, affordable and timely travel. Chiratae's funding validates our belief that the problem of waitlist in India can be solved indigenously using a technology-led business model."
Speaking on the latest development, TC Meenakshisundaram, founder and managing director of Chiratae Ventures India Advisors, said, "Indian Railways is the backbone of our country. As India becomes more aspirational, passengers will demand a more reliable experience while traveling by the railways. Railofy is working towards this by solving one of the biggest problems affecting railways—waitlist due to congestion."
