B Capital, Falcon Edge Lead $72 Mn Series C Funding In Bike Rental Startup Bounce

After raising over $13 Mn funding in the last six months, Bengaluru-based two wheeler rental startup, Bounce has now raised $72 Mn in a Series C funding round. The round was led by global technology fund, B Capital Group and New York-based hedge fund, Falcon Edge Capital.

The investments also came in from Accel Partners India, Accel Partners USA, Chiratae Ventures, Maverick Ventures, Omidyar Network India, Sequoia Capital India and Qualcomm Ventures, the investment arm of Qualcomm Incorporated.

Bounce plans to use the funds to expand its geographical presence in the country and strengthening its technology-end. It will extensively focus on expanding in smart cities. With this round, the total funding raised by Bounce has reached over $92 Mn.

Bounce: Over 2 Mn Rides In Bengaluru

Founded as Wicked Rides in 2014 by Vivekananda HR, Varun Agni and Anil G, the company offers premium motorcycles for rent under the Wicked Rides banner, and commuter bikes under the Bounce brand.

Vivekananda H.R, cofounder and CEO, Bounce, said, “Shared personal mobility addresses a key consumer need and is fast emerging as an important mode of transportation. Bounce is actively working with the local and national government to provide innovative solutions for seamless first and last mile connectivity.”

The company aims to solve last-mile connectivity problem. It allows users to pick up scooters from locations closest to them and drop them at end-trip spots, priced by the hour and distance. The company claims to have deployed a fleet of over 5000 keyless scooters in Bengaluru.

Recently, the company recorded over 2 Mn rides. Going forward, the company plans to introduce over 50K vehicles this year.

Investor Speak

Anand Daniel, partner,  Accel Partners says that the healthy utilisation rates of scooters and high repeat behaviour from consumers prove that this model is well suited for mass market adoption as an intracity mobility solution and we are excited to see the company scale this in Bengaluru and beyond.

Kabir Narang, general partner and co-head of Asia at B Capital Group, said, “The company has built a transformative solution to address mobility challenges in India and other emerging markets. We believe that the Bounce team is shaping urban mobility by bringing accessibility and affordability to India’s commuters.”

Karan Mohla, partner at Chiratae Ventures says that Bounce is creating and expanding a market segment that goes well beyond current urban consumers. Continuous innovation as a full-stack mobility platform will enable Bounce to create several areas of differentiation as they have done with the keyless and dockless model, he said.

Shailesh Lakhani, principal and MD Sequoia Capital India, said, “Bounce’s success with their expanded launch early this year shows the promise of shared personal mobility, and the impact it can have on urban mobility. We are enthusiastic supporters of Bounce as they scale their operational footprint over the coming months and years ahead.”

Expanding Virtue Of Urban Mobility

The last/first mile connectivity segment which is up for grabs right now is sparsely populated with players like Ola, Vogo and Bounce gearing up to share a piece of the pie.

In bike/scooter rental segment, Bounce competes with Vogo, Tazzo Bikes, ONN Bikes, among several others. A Statista report said that India’s two-wheeler vehicles (scooters, motorcycles, and mopeds) saw 20 Mn sales in 2017-18, which make it the most popular vehicle category sold in India.

Another report by RedSeer Consulting said that the Indian online mobility market, which includes cab aggregator and auto-hailing verticals, contributed over 15% of the industry’s overall gross book value (GBV) in 2017. However, the weather of the sector hasn’t always been attractive.

Global players such as Ofo had to exit from the country due to challenges of the sector. Being a heavily-funded startup in the mobility space, which is looking up to electric vehicles as the next-generation of tech, Bounce and its peers still have to show their market potential and bet for the future.