Traveling is a necessity for everyone. Not long ago, travel arrangement systems were nonexistent, making travel a nightmare, particularly during the holiday season. However, courtesy of three eminent Engineers. Their strategy in solving the problem revolutionized bus travel. The online bus ticket booking platform REDBUS is the solution for the hurdles what we faced in traveling. Read on the success story of Redbus which transformed the three Engineers to Entrepreneurs.

1. REDBUS- SUCCESS STORY
ENGINEERS TO ENTREPRENEURS
Travelling is a necessity for everyone. From kids to elders, everyone travels to
somewhere daily. The purpose varies from necessity to pleasure. The available
avenues for transport are many- ranging from aeroplanes to autos. But the most
commonly used mode of transport remains to be BUS. Public transport buses are
limited within the cities. For travelling from one city to another city is provided by
private buses which are operated by bus operators under the supervision of travel
agents. There will be hardships when travelling from one city to another city in case
of limited seats, limited service providers and especially in the seasons of festivals.
We had many buses around for travelling which provides AC and non-AC buses and
other types of buses.
www.tvisha.com +91-9100068882/+1(732)654-0056

2. Booking of tickets gives a new experience to the travellers as it is an easy and
efficient way to buy a ticket. After train and plane ticket bookings, the bus ticket
booking also raised. Presently, there is a number of providers who provide online bus
ticket booking. However, the first and now the top bus ticket booking platform is
Redbus.
Redbus is an online bus ticket booking platform which facilitates comfortable and
affordable travelling to millions by providing dynamic and efficient online bus ticket
booking system.
Here we go on the journey and success story of Redbus!
The foundation of Redbus: How it happened?
The Red bus success story begins with the three key people Phanindra Sama, Charan
Padmaraju and Sudhakar Pasupunuri. The three engineers from BITS Pilani are the
www.tvisha.com +91-9100068882/+1(732)654-0056

3. founders of the Redbus. After their graduation, they worked for MNCs in Bangalore.
Phanindra Sama worked for STs electronics and Texas instruments, Charan
Padmaraju for Honeywell and Sudhakar Pasupunuri for IBM. Phanindra Sama was
the master brain in evolving Redbus. He was the chief executive officer for Redbus
for 8 years.
The seed of Redbus success story sown on the entrepreneurial ground when
Phanindra Sama trying to travel from Bangalore to Hyderabad for Diwali vacation in
2005. He could not get a bus ticket to travel to his home town. He wandered around
the Bangalore for a ticket. But he didn’t get. That day he came to know the
disorganization in the system and communication gap between bus operators and
travel agents. There is no translucent on available seats and price of the ticket. And
everything was done there is through phone calls and for return tickets, need to go to
the agents every time.
Sama felt it like clumsy. He believed that it could be solved through online. Then he
discussed with his friends and three of them together decided to enter the realm of the
entrepreneurial ground even though they didn’t have entrepreneurial bug initially.
Origin of the name:
The name was taken from colour of the Virgin brand which is started by Richard
Branson as Sama was fascinated by his autobiography. He wished to have a colour
for his business. And the colour of the Virgin brand is Red. And another reason is as it
www.tvisha.com +91-9100068882/+1(732)654-0056

4. is online based and for the people’s convenience they want to put the easiest and
catchy name for their Redbus startup story. So, they finally proposed the name as
the Redbus.
The Journey of Redbus Success Story:
The journey begins when the three engineers left their comfortable and affluent zone.
In January 2006, the three started working on the solution. They built software and
tried to sell it. But that doesn’t pay off. Then they came to know about TiE
Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program, Bangalore. They met the TiE team and
discuss their plan. The TiE assigned three mentors for them. They gave the idea of
starting their own business and gave them assignments about the project. It is like a
survey. They are fastidious in the assigned work. The three young entrepreneurs
surveyed all the details like the number of buses, number of routes, the costs of a
ticket, the way the people buy a ticket, profiles of customers, shares of bus operator
and an agent.
They started it in August 2006 with only one operator, 5 seats with 5 lakh rupees. The
Redbus startup story brought a revolution in the bus industry. They built a website
with a name redbus.in. They went through the hardships and seasons of suffering
throughout the whole journey before tasting success.
The Redbus success story didn’t end here. Redbus today is roaring with success as
an online bus ticket booking company with 10,000+ buses, 700+ bus operators,
operating in 15 states and sells at least 5,000 tickets daily. It is a fast-growing startup.
Redbus prolonged their services to hotels, bus hire, and pilgrimages.
www.tvisha.com +91-9100068882/+1(732)654-0056

5. IT OFFERS:
The three young entrepreneurs make the travelling of millions very convenient and
comfortable. The Redbus offers:
1. Multiple Travel Options Across Thousand of Routes
2. Excellent Customer Support for solving travel issues
3. Low-cost tickets
4. Provides extra benefits (Discounts, deals, and festive offers, etc.)
5. M-ticket, E-ticket, and Counter ticket
6. Luxurious hotel services
7. Bus hirings
8. Pilgrimage tours
Ticket booking app development:
www.tvisha.com +91-9100068882/+1(732)654-0056

6. We can book tickets using apps and also customize the options using the Redbus
ticket booking app. We can book Volvo, sleeper or any other type of bus using the
app. It also facilitates bus coupons, festival offers, etc. Availability of buses, seats,
type of bus and choice bus all are available in the app.
The three young entrepreneurs also developed a software product named BOSS for
bus operators which gives smooth access to the information of buses and seating
allotments. And Seat sellar which furnishes the information to the travel agency.
Investors:
The investors for globally recognized redbus.in are:
• TiE
• Inventus, and
• Helicon ventures
In just a few years of their journey, the three entrepreneurs amped up its revenue
above $12M.
Challenges:
The Redbus success story prolonged its operations across various countries besides
India are Colombia, Indonesia, Peru, Malaysia, and Singapore.
The challenges they had to face in operating this red bus success story includes:
• Payment gateway issues
• Propagate the same working environment, culture and value system in different
countries. To meet this challenge they frequently travel to the countries and
communicate through emails.
www.tvisha.com +91-9100068882/+1(732)654-0056

7. Globally, Redbus now has 8+ million customers, 2300+ bus operators and 100
million trips are booking worldwide using ticket booking app development. Redbus
sold their stake to Ibibo groups, South Africa for $135 million.
Currently, Prakash Sangam is the CEO of redbus.in since 2014 and Anoop Menon is
the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) of redbus.in
Red Bus Achievements:
1. Phanindra became the second entrepreneur from India to join Endeavour.
2. The most innovative company from business standard.
3. The most trusted brand from the brand trust report.
4. Mobile innovation award from the eye for travel.
5. Phanindra Sama placed under “40 under 40” by Fortune India in 2014.
6. Phanindra appointed as the CIO (Chief Innovative Officer) of TSIC (Telangana
State Innovation Cell) on 10th
November 2017.
7. ‘Top 5 startup in 2010’ by Forbes magazine.
The Redbus startup story reveals that, “Education ignites a better understanding of
obstacles”.
www.tvisha.com +91-9100068882/+1(732)654-0056

8. www.tvisha.com +91-9100068882/+1(732)654-0056