SUMMARY
With this funding, Bounce will be expanding its service to more cities in the coming days
The company is looking to introduce EVs in the near future
It has clocked over 16 Mn rides and does 1.2 Lakh rides per day
Bengaluru-based dockless bike rental startup Bounce, on Thursday (January 23), announced that it has raised an additional $105 Mn (INR 746.33 Cr) from Accel Partners and B Capital Group. The latest round is part of the ongoing Series D funding round, where the company previously raised $97 Mn (INR 692.39 Cr) led by B Capital, Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin’s venture capital firm.
The round also witnessed participation from existing investors such as Sequoia Capital India, Chiratae Ventures, Maverik Ventures, Falcon Edge, Qualcomm Ventures and Omidyar Network India among others. With this latest funding, Kabir Narang, general partner and co-head of Asia at B Capital Group will be joining Bounce board.
“Our growth indicates the future belongs to shared mobility,” said Vivekananda HR, cofounder and CEO of Bounce.
Bounce said the funds raised will help the company to expand its dockless bike rental service to more cities across India and march towards profitability.
With its existing fleet of over 20K bikes, Bounce also said that it is planning to migrate to electric vehicles (EVs) financed by the debt funds raised by the company. In the coming days, it is looking to introduce EVs to further strengthen the brand presence in Bengaluru.
Bounce was founded by Vivekananda HR, Varun Agni and Anil G. The company claims to make mobility accessible, reliable and affordable for all. Currently, it operates its service in Bengaluru and Hyderabad with 13K and 2K bikes, respectively. Bounce claims to offer docked scooter rental service in over 35 cities. It has clocked over 16 Mn rides and does 1.2 Lakh rides per day.
Sources in Bounce had earlier told Inc42 that it was in talks to raise $125 Mn from B Capital and Accel Partners. The sources also said that the funding can even go up to $150 to $160 Mn, taking the company’s valuation close to $600 Mn.
“Bounce bike takes over six bikes off the roads, helping reduce congestion and pollution from cities,” said Narang
Bounce’s parent entity Wicked Ride offers premium bikes such as Enfields, Harley-Davidson, Triumph, Ducati, Kawasaki, KTM and others for rent across India.
B Capital and Accel Partners had also invested in Bounce’s Series C round. In 2019, the company had also raised $4.45 Mn from Flipkart cofounder Sachin Bansal’s BAC Acquisitions. The funding came in two rounds, in March 2019 and July 2019 with $3 Mn and $1.45 Mn, respectively.
India is leading the shared mobility space in the world in terms of fleet size. A lot of startups are burgeoning in the ecosystem, includes Yulu, Vogo, Bounce, Tazzo Bikes and ONN Bikes among others. Though these startups are attracting the investors’ attention to fuel their expansion. However, the majority of these startups are facing difficulties in expanding their services beyond Bengaluru, Hyderabad and other metro cities.
