Exclusive: With 2500 Rides Done & Stand-Out Product Categories, Luxury Bike-Rental Startup WickedRide Raises $787K

Bangalore-based luxury bike rental startup, WickedRide has closed its seed round of funding led by an angel investor. Keeping the name of the investor undisclosed, Vivekananda, cofounder of WickedRide told us that the investor has invested over $787K (INR 5 Cr.) into WickedRide in his personal capacity.

With Harley Davidson Night Rod, Iron 883, Super Low 883, Street 750, Royal Enfield Thunder Bird 500, Continental GT, Desert Storm, Triumph-Bonneville, Kawasaki Ninja 650, Indian Scout and Ducati in its offerings, WickedRide has served over 2500 rides since its inception in April, 2014.

It lets users opt from the following options

• Do it Yourself – Rider himself plans the trip.

• Customised Expedition– Company plans the trip and also provide them with a backup vehicle for the trip. Also, known as ‘Bikeation’.
• Fixed Departure– Riders enroll their names for a specific tour and thus, a group of bikers embark on a trip at the same departure time.

The startup also deals in other product categories like Selling/Renting of Biking gears like Jackets, Gloves, Luggage, Performance Parts, Cameras and also a provision to get clicked with a premium bike (photographer and spot is arranged by the company).

Speaking about the market size, Vivekananda said, “ We estimate the market size to be of all ages from 18 to 55. It  is a huge market when it comes to premium motorcycle rentals. Though the number of household having motorcycle or moped is high, the percentage of penetration in premium motorcycle is negligible and gives a huge opportunity. We estimate it to be 3,630 crores keeping population in the age group 23 to 39 and disposable income of of at least 4.5 lakhs per annum.”

Quick Facts

• Company based out of Bangalore having operations in Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Further it plans to expand to Delhi and Gujarat in next three months.
• Number of bikes – The startup currently owns 32 motorcycles and in process of adding about 200 plus bikes in each location.
• Average Ticket Size – INR 4,000 – 5,000/day rental
• Team Size – 15
• Ratio of Old v/s New Customers– 25% are recurring
• Ratio of Customised Expeditions v/s Unplanned Rides: 30%
• Gets 98% to 100% occupancy on weekends and about 50% plus occupancy on weekdays.

WickedRide was founded by Varun Agni, a Post Graduate in Telecommunications from Maryland, Vivekananda H.R, a Chartered Accountant and Anil G, a Cost & Works Accountant in April, 2014.

Related: Cruise Around On A Harley Or Triumph For A Day With Wicked Ride!

With the recent fundraise, the company is working on further expansion into cities along with constant efforts towards a 4-5 hour rental model. It is also planning the launch of their mobile app to ease the booking of bikes.

Talking of the challenges faced, Co-Founder WickedRide, Vivekananda says, “Since we were the first to start a premium motorcycle rental company in India, we came across many challenges from ensuring the safety of bikes, validation of customers, educating the first time riders of these bikes, which we have solved today through technology, customer understanding and coming up with sessions to educate the riders about Do’s and Don’ts as well.” Company also runs free biking lessons for women on the weekends.

WickedRide competes with WheelStreet, Stoneheadbikes and Rentabike, it’s  biggest competition being Stoneheadbikes from Delhi, which offers similar services all across north region of India.

With stand-out product categories like – customised expedition, rental of biking gears and cameras; WickedRide has championed the less travelled road of excellent customer experience!