January 2025 | Athera's Odyssey: Decoding The Indian Consumer
Two seasoned entrepreneurs take us through their journeys of decoding the discerning Indian consumer
In this month's edition of Odyssey, we spoke to Gaurav Aggarwal, the CEO of Savaari, which has revolutionised how Indians travel between cities. Gaurav also shared unique insights on the landmark deal that Savaari struck with MakeMyTrip last year.
We also spoke to our very own Rutvik Doshi in a sprawling conversation, which takes us through his early years at Google, his macro observation about the Indian consumer class, and his investment philosophy.
Happy reading, and have a stellar year ahead.
How Savaari Revolutionised Inter-City Travel
Sometimes, the journey becomes the destination.
In 2005, when Gaurav Aggarwal was visiting India from the US, he wanted to plan a simple trip from Delhi to Roorkee. What seemed like a straightforward task—a car rental booking—led him to an entrepreneurial journey that would change India’s intercity mobility forever.
Having experienced reliable car rentals in the US, Gaurav was shocked to find India lacked a dependable, online car rental booking service. The options available were either unorganized local operators or international companies charging sky-high prices. This gap in the market was the spark that led to the birth of Savaari—India’s largest intercity mobility platform today.
The Early Days and Vision
"India needed a pan India car rental company where no matter which city you go to, you should be able to reliably book a car rental online," recalls Aggarwal.
The vision was simple: create a trusted brand that could deliver consistent service across the country at competitive prices.
In 2012, Savaari received its first investment from Inventus (now Athera Venture Partners), and soon began organizing the fragmented car rental market. The timing was perfect.
Aggarwal met with Parag and Samir from Inventus before moving back to India, and their experience with RedBus had given them insights into the transportation sector's consolidation potential.
“I had a feeling we were onto something bigger,” says Aggarwal. And he was right.
Staying Focused in a Changing Market
While contemporaries like Ola and Uber were securing massive funding to dominate the ride-hailing space, Savaari made a conscious decision to stay focused on the car rental market - a decision that paid off. Aggarwal, along with key investors like Intel Capital, saw the potential to organize the market and make it profitable.
"In hindsight, it was a great decision," Aggarwal reflects. While many on-demand players struggled or disappeared in the face of intense competition, Savaari carved its niche in the intercity segment, avoiding the costly, competitive battle in the urban ride-hailing space.
Navigating Through Storms
The journey wasn’t without its challenges. After Series B, a tough market made securing Series C difficult, leaving Savaari with just six months of runway. Savaari made a strategic decision to double down on the intercity segment, leveraging its strong economics.
"Our contribution margin on intercity trips is around 70%. Even after customer acquisition costs, we still make 58% on the first trip," says Aggarwal. This move proved to be a crucial turning point for the company.
The COVID-19 pandemic posed the biggest challenge yet, with revenues plummeting to zero in April 2020. But Savaari used this downtime to innovate. "With the business on hold and the bandwidth available, we shifted focus to strengthening our platform," Aggarwal explains. One key move was gaining full control over pricing, which had previously been dependent on vendor partners.
The company also made a game-changing move into one-way intercity trips, expanding from select routes to nearly 15 lakh across India. "In December 2024 alone, we served customers from 1,500 cities. We're truly pan-India now," says Aggarwal. This wasn’t just about expanding reach—it was a complete transformation in how Indians approached intercity travel.
People First Through Crisis
During the pandemic, Savaari faced a critical decision: to protect its team or take the easier route.
Choosing the former, Aggarwal made a powerful commitment not to lay off anyone. "We decided not to let anyone go," he says. Despite the challenging times, temporary pay cuts up to 60% were implemented, yet the team stood strong and united.
Their belief in the company paid off. By 2022, Savaari not only returned to profitability but also repaid the salary cuts, adding a 10% bonus. Even before the full recovery of domestic travel, the company had surpassed pre-pandemic growth by 40% in FY23.
This people-first philosophy extends beyond the core team to Savaari’s driver partners. By introducing instant payment reconciliation after each trip—an industry-first move—the company ensured that its drivers were paid faster and fairly. "If I want my customers to be happy, the driver has to be happy first," says Aggarwal. This approach has been key to maintaining consistent service excellence, reinforcing the deep connection between happy drivers and satisfied customers across India.
Operational Excellence and Customer Focus
Savaari’s success is rooted in its keen understanding of the unique dynamics of intercity travel. "You're bringing together two people from very different backgrounds into the confined space of a cab," Aggarwal observes. Recognizing this, Savaari introduced innovative practices like regional teams to bridge language barriers and comprehensive driver training programs to ensure smoother journeys for both drivers and passengers.
The company has also implemented sophisticated systems for efficiently matching drivers with trips and dynamically managing pricing. "Most of our bookings are profitable," Aggarwal shares, with 90-95% of routes delivering positive returns. Key routes, such as Mumbai-Pune, Delhi-Agra, Delhi-Chandigarh, and Bangalore-Mysore, form the backbone of their operations, with Savaari often arranging return trips to maximize driver utilization and enhance overall efficiency.
The MakeMyTrip Partnership
In a pivotal move, MakeMyTrip acquired a majority stake in Savaari in 2024. This partnership wasn’t something Savaari actively pursued, as the company had been solely focused on growth. However, the collaboration felt like a natural fit, especially given their long standing relationship since 2010.
"MakeMyTrip sees Savaari as the go-to brand for intercity travel," says Aggarwal. The results have already been impressive, with Savaari doubling its growth in just one year, all while maintaining exceptional metrics — an NPS nearing 70 and on-time performance above 95%. This partnership is set to strengthen Savaari's position as a leader in India's intercity travel landscape.
The Road Ahead: Technology and Expansion
Looking ahead, Savaari is poised to become a thousand-crore company in the next few years, riding on the immense potential of the intercity mobility market. Of the $15 billion market, $6 billion is in intercity travel, with a mere 10% of it online—far behind buses (50%) and hotels (80-90%).
Technology will be the cornerstone of Savaari's future growth. The company is heavily investing in AI and ML to revolutionize customer experience, from suggesting optimal stops during long journeys to predicting demand and fine-tuning pricing.
While Savaari is closely monitoring the rise of electric vehicles, Aggarwal remains pragmatic, noting that infrastructure and economic realities make electric vehicles less viable for intercity travel at this time. Instead, the focus remains on optimizing the existing fleet and preparing for future transitions in vehicle technology.
As India's infrastructure improves—particularly with faster highways and more airports—Savaari’s prospects only grow stronger. "The more highways, the faster highways, the more enjoyable road travel becomes," Aggarwal points out. The expansion of airports, set to increase from 130 to 200, will further boost demand for intercity travel, especially as more travelers seek reliable transport options.
Another exciting trend is the rise in demand for offbeat destinations like Spiti Valley and Ziro Valley. "If you want to truly explore India, road travel is the way," Aggarwal affirms. This opens up significant opportunities in leisure travel, expanding Savaari's reach beyond traditional routes and into the heart of India's adventurous spirit.
Lessons for Entrepreneurs
Aggarwal’s journey is a masterclass in resilience, focus, and strategic execution. As he wisely states, "Whatever you plan, it'll take 2x more time and cost 2x more than what you plan in the most conservative manner." This highlights the crucial lesson that success isn’t about a flawless plan but the ability to adapt, persist, and learn from challenges.
One of the most important takeaways is the need for sustainable unit economics while scaling. This is not just about chasing growth but ensuring profitability and long-term viability from day one.
The regular board meetings with investors since 2012 also emphasize the importance of patient capital and long-term partnerships in building enduring businesses. As Aggarwal puts it, "Most companies go through downturns, maybe more than one." The dream of a smooth Series A to exit is just that—a dream. Success often requires weathering multiple storms.
But for Aggarwal, it’s all worth it. "I still have fun every day I come in. I still have enough problems to solve."
That’s the essence of entrepreneurship: finding joy in the grind and embracing every challenge as an opportunity to grow and make a difference.
Journey of a GP: Rutvik Doshi
"I've always been a tinkerer and a computer guy from my teenage days," recalls Rutvik Doshi, whose tech journey began when his school, Don Bosco Park Circus in Calcutta, received 50 computers from an alumnus.
This early exposure proved transformative.
In an era before the internet, when computers were primarily used for programming, Rutvik found his calling.
By the early 1990s, he had co-founded his school's first computer club and was organizing inter-school programming competitions – essentially 'hackathons' before the term existed.
"We would sit from 9 AM to 6 PM for two days straight," he remembers, describing these early coding competitions that drew participants from across Calcutta's top schools.
His timing was serendipitous.
When he joined IIT in 1995, it coincided with a pivotal moment in Indian tech history – the arrival of the internet on August 15, 1995.
"These were text-based web browsers,"
"I still remember the day Netscape was launched, and we downloaded it at our lab. It took six hours."
This era also saw the birth of free email services, with Rutvik recalling a memorable email from Hotmail founder Sabeer Bhatia celebrating their first 10,000 users – a far cry from today's billions of email users.
The Google Years and Beyond
After stints at Computer Associates and a U.S. startup, Rutvik's journey led him to Google India in 2007. It was here that he gained unique insights into India's digital evolution through the lens of search patterns.
"When I joined Google, India had only 20 million internet users. By the time I left in 2010, it had grown to 100 million users," he notes. This period gave him a front-row seat to changing user behaviors and emerging market opportunities.
At Google, Rutvik observed fascinating patterns in how countries adopt the internet.
He noticed a predictable progression: from initial adult content searches to entertainment and sports, and finally to product-related queries – a signal that e-commerce was ready to take off.
This insight would later inform his decision to venture into e-commerce entrepreneurship with Taggle, though he admits to underestimating the capital requirements of the sector.
"I used to think you could build an e-commerce company with $1-10 million and become profitable. I was completely wrong – even after burning a billion dollars, Flipkarts of the world are still not profitable."
The Investor's Lens
Today, as a General Partner at Athera Venture Partners, Rutvik brings a distinct perspective to venture investing.
"My personal investment style is that I spend a lot of time with the founding team and with the product as opposed to with the market," he explains. This approach is deeply influenced by his technical background and product experience, focusing on understanding trend lines and extrapolating their direction.
One of his most memorable investments was in Unbxd, one of his first as a VC.
"Both the founders and myself, we learned along the way," he shares.
"It was a journey where I discovered what being a VC means, what being a board member means, what a SaaS investment means. The founder is also going through the same journey."
This mutual growth and learning experience exemplifies what he values most in venture capital – the opportunity to grow alongside founders.
On India's Startup Ecosystem
When discussing India's startup ecosystem, Rutvik highlights quick commerce as a uniquely Indian innovation. "This is the very first time we're seeing consumer Internet models where it is India-first, as opposed to Flipkart being a copy of Amazon or Ola being a copy of Uber," he observes.
He attributes this to India's unique conditions: dense cities, available workforce, and robust digital infrastructure through UPI and Aadhaar.
"You have to give full credit to the Zepto founders to basically foresee this thing and do it. But the moment it started happening, it feels so obvious that India has the right conditions for it."
For startups navigating market cycles, Rutvik emphasizes the importance of maintaining dual control over growth and profitability.
"Smart founders have two levers in their hand – profitability and growth," he explains.
"When times are good and capital is available, they pull the lever towards growth. When times are tough, they can shift towards profitability and self-sustain."
He cautions against the common misconception that cost-cutting alone can ensure survival during downturns, emphasizing instead the importance of innovation across product, pricing, and processes.
Looking at India's market potential, Rutvik acknowledges the challenges of lower ARPUs compared to Western markets but sees opportunity in India's volume story. The key, he suggests, is innovation in marketing and operations to build sustainable businesses at scale without relying heavily on traditional digital marketing channels.
"Our ARPUs will never compare to what the Western markets have. The problem many companies face is that our ARPUs are low, but their expenses are in dollars because they're reliant on Google, Facebook, etc., to enable that growth."
Recent Developments
In a significant move for both Athera Ventures and the Indian VC ecosystem, the firm recently secured a major commitment from HDFC FoF for their fourth fund.
Rutvik particularly emphasizes the importance of this being Indian capital: "Indian capital is going to be used for fueling Indian startups which will grow, generate returns, and it will get plugged back to Indians, which means it will recycle and can kickstart a big virtuous cycle."
After 12 years in venture capital, Rutvik shares a valuable lesson for young VCs about avoiding FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). "There is a lot of hustle culture... about meeting that founder first and getting to that deal first," he observes. "But statistically, it does not make any difference. As long as you've done your diligence properly in the deals you've done, there's no point regretting what you missed."
Although Rutvik has completed 12 years as a GP at Athera, his journey is only getting started!
Pathways - January
This month in Pathways, we’re inspired by the recent buzz around Deepseek — a reminder that innovation often thrives in unexpected places. Resourcefulness and vision can outshine sheer scale; David can beat Goliath! With that in mind, we’ve curated four reads that celebrate underdogs, original thinking, and the audacity to challenge the status quo. These books explore how individuals and teams have defied the odds to punch above their weight and redefine industries.
Copernicus’ heliocentric model - a pivotal moment in science, and one that shook up the status quo
Start with David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell: True to its title, this book dives deep into the dynamics of underdogs matching up against giants. Gladwell redefines what it means to have an advantage, showing how perceived weaknesses often mask hidden strengths. Through captivating stories — from classrooms to battlefields — he illustrates how unconventional thinking can tilt the balance in favour of the underdog. Particularly relevant is Gladwell's analysis of how underdogs succeed by refusing to play by established rules - and rethink adversity.
Next, pick up Originals by Adam Grant: Grant, a Wharton professor and organizational psychologist, explores how individuals can champion new ideas and drive change without traditional resources or authority. Packed with surprising studies and stories spanning business, politics, sports and entertainment, this book is a masterclass in challenging norms and building movements — especially when the odds are against you. Interestingly, there is emphasis on building coalitions and choosing the right moment to act; timing and execution matter more than raw resources.
Shift gears with The Wikipedia Revolution by Andrew Lih: This under-appreciated yet essential read chronicles the unlikely rise of Wikipedia, a project that defied every traditional model of organizational success. Dismissed by skeptics early on, Wikipedia became one of the most remarkable examples of collective innovation and frugality in modern history; one that drove centuries-old encyclopaedias out of business. Perhaps there are parallels with today's open-source AI movements.
Conclude with The Innovators by Walter Isaacson: Isaacson’s sweeping narrative explores the history of the digital revolution through the lens of its pioneers — from Ada Lovelace to Alan Turing, Von Neumann, Licklider, Engelbart, Noyce and finally to Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, Tim Berners-Lee, and Larry Page. What makes this book particularly relevant to our theme is its emphasis on collaboration and the interplay between visionaries and builders. It’s a tribute to the individuals and teams who combined creativity with resourcefulness, turning small sparks into transformative innovations.
This month’s picks are a reminder that you don’t need infinite resources to make an outsized impact.
Whether you’re a scrappy startup or a small team taking on entrenched incumbents, these books will inspire you to think big, act boldly, and, like Deepseek, redefine what’s possible.