Sojitz Corp latest Japanese investor in shared mobility startup Shuttl

Super Highway Labs, the Gurugram-based company that owns app-based bus aggregator platform Shuttl, has raised $3 million in a fresh funding round from Tokyo headquartered industrial conglomerate Sojitz Corporation.

The latest infusion follows a $8.1 million round that the company raised in January this year.

Overall, the company has raised $60 million from investors including Lightspeed India Partners, Sumitomo Mitsui Corporation and Trifecta Capital, according to data available with VCCEdge.

In the current round, Shuttl has issued 7,253 preference shares at Rs 29,564.25 rupees per share to Sojitz Corporation. This is a marginal discount when compared to Rs 29,574.25 rupees issued to Susquehanna, regulatory filings filed showed. On conversion to equity, the investor will hold 1.41% stake in the company. Sojitz Corporation has several interests in infrastructure and railway projects in India and has partnered with major domestic firms such as engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro. Recently, it also invested in venture capital firm 3One4 Capital’s Continuum fund.

The company was founded in 2015 by IIT Delhi and IIT Kanpur alumnus Amit Singh and Deepanshu Malviya. It offers on-demand bus services to daily commuters in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Gurugram, Noida, Faridabad. It claims to operate 1,000 buses along 150 routes.

Shuttl competes with Chiratae Ventures-backed Cityflo, which raised $430,000 from venture capital firm India Quotient and People Group founder Anupam Mittal. Komorebi Tech Solutions-owned platform was also founded in 2015 by Jerin Verad and Sankalp Kelshikar.

In 2016, two operators LIMO and Essel-backed Zipgo shut shop after being unable to raise additional capital, lack of customer stickiness and regulatory issues.