Savaari, in cruise control, might face a SoftBank-sized pitstop

Like any good ride, Savaari.com too has had its twist and turns. Some for the worse and, lately, some for the better. The latest is that the car rental startup, focussed solely on intercity rides, posted a profit.

A profit! Small—about Rs 20-25 lakh—but a profit nonetheless. A faraway dream for SoftBank-backed Ola and Uber. Remember, Uber admitted in its IPO prospectus that it might never be profitable.

Kudos then to Gaurav Aggarwal, CEO of Savaari! Especially since the milestone comes less than five years since what he calls a watershed moment. More precisely, since October 2014, when SoftBank poured $210 million into Ola and forever rerouted the course of the cab aggregation business.

Savaari buckled up for a rough ride. It couldn't find investors ready to take on SoftBank, so it laid-off employees, slashed costs and ultimately rejigged its business to focus only on intercity rides. A journey, as it turned out, that was worth it.

At stake, after all, was the $15 billion pot of gold called the intercity cab market, of which only 10% is online. A market that even the Ola-Uber duopoly has failed to crack.

So, Savaari has pulled out of a fishtail and seems to have a clear road ahead. However, a question looms: is a SoftBank-sized refuelling pitstop on its route? After conquering intercity with Ola and Uber, is intercity SoftBank's next target? Does Savaari need it? Can it really say "No" if they came with their infinite-page chequebook?

Maybe you can if you are Aggarwal. “The confidence of running a profitable business is unparalleled,” he says.

But enough from me. Let Nilesh, our contributor for this story, guide you through Savaari's journey so far and what lies ahead (*cough* SoftBank *cough*).