Indian startups are touching new heights with each day. Led by few of the best minds in the world, the Indian startup ecosystem is now flourishing but it wasn’t always like this. Few years after the internet boom in the country, a bunch of engineers started companies that are now dominating the segment. One such name that is a leader in its segment in Redbus. Founded by Phanindra Sama, Sudhakar Pasupunuri and Charan Padmaraju in 2006, Redbus is an online bus ticket booking service. The founders became friends while graduating from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science and they also worked together at various organisations before founding the company. The trio started the company with just Rs 5 lakh and if reports are to be believed, Redbus currently has a net worth of more than Rs 6985 crore. Phanindra Sama is said to be the key member who got the idea to start the service when he struggled to book a bus ticket to his hometown during a festival season.
Under Phanindra Sama’s leadership, Redbus revolutionized the bus ticketing process in India, making it easier, more transparent, and accessible. Before venturing into entrepreneurship, Sama worked as a designer of integrated circuits at Texas Instruments. In 2007, redBus received its first round of funding of 1 million dollars. With support from a few of the biggest investors in the country, Redbus became the market leader within a few years.
In 2013, Redbus was acquired by the Ibibo Group, a joint venture of South Africa's Naspers and China's Tencent, in one of the largest overseas deals in the Indian startup ecosystem at that time. The platform was acquired for Rs 828 crore.
After the acquisition, Sama continued to be involved with Redbus for a while before moving on to other ventures. Phanindra Sama has been actively involved in various social initiatives and philanthropy work. He served as the Chief Innovation Officer of the State of Telangana, contributing his expertise to enhance innovation and technology implementation in governance.
