Bounce Infinity Raises $20 Mn From Sequoia, Others After Laying Off 3-4% Workforce

Bike rental and EV startup Bounce Infinity has reportedly raised $20 Mn (INR 163 Cr) from existing investors including Sequoia Capital. 

The proceeds from the round will provide Bounce a cash runway while it continues to be in discussions for a strategic sale or even a larger fundraising round with external investors, sources told the Economic Times. 

Bounce’s CEO Vivekananda Hallekere confirmed closing the first tranche of the funding round and participation of existing backers including Sequoia in the round to the above publication. However, he declined plans of strategic sale. 

Including the current fundraising, it has raised over $234.2 Mn from investors to date.

The development comes weeks after Inc42 reported Bounce laid off about 3-4% of its workforce (of nearly 500-700 employees base) as part of its restructuring exercise. Its non-original equipment manufacturer (OEM) vertical was mainly affected by the layoffs. 

Set up in 2014 by Anil G, Varun Agni and Vivekananda Hallekere, Bounce initially offered bike rental services but in 2022, it pivoted to electric vehicle space. It currently manufactures 

EV scooters and enables users to rent its scooters from designated spots.

In 2020, the startup raised $105 Mn in a Series D round from Accel partners, B Capital and other investors. 

It acquired EV startup Twenty Two Motors and bike rental startup ofo India in 2021 and 2018 respectively. 

In the bike rental space, it competes with players such as Vogo, Wicked Ride, and ONN Bikes. While, in the EV space, it faces competition from the likes of Ola Electric, Ather and PureEV. 

According to a Fisdom report, the country’s EV industry was valued at $1,434 Bn in 2021. The space is set to become a $15,397 Bn market by 2027 and expand at a CAGR of 47.09% by the forecasted period. 

Some of the major developments in the sector include automobile giant Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) foraying into the EV space and launching its foremost EV vehicle in March 2024.

In the meantime, the country’s two-wheeler EV registration grew by 4X to 10 Lakh units in 2022, against 3.2 Lakh EV units registered in the previous year (2021), according to Vahan data 

Besides this, EV startup Exponent Energy partnered with Park+ to set up 1,000 charging stations across India by the end of this year (2023).

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