Indian scooter rental start-up Bounce raised $150 million in an ongoing funding round led by its existing investors Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital and Accel Partners India.
The current financing round, dubbed as Series D funding raised the market value of Bounce to $500 million. Earlier this year in June, during its Series C funding, the company was valued at $200 million.
The start-up which was formerly known as Metro Bikes allows customers to rent a scooter at a very low price of Re.1/km and Rs.1.5/per hour. It’s because of this aggressive pricing that the start-up reached at 2.1million customers. Another reason for this growth is the realization by the public that 2-wheelers cruise much faster and conveniently through traffic.
Bounce has also patented a keyless technology, which allows users to pick-up or drop the vehicle at any point of time with just an OTP. The company operates 11000 petrol vehicles in India and has recently also launched electric scooters in its fleet with the aim of making 50% fleet electric.
Bounce is also posing a growing threat to cab aggregators like Ola and Uber both of which have invested heavily in India with thousands of cabs. In an interview with The New York Times, Bounce co-founder and executive Vivekananda Hallekere said that the “traditional” model of cab aggregators is reaching its limits. “You can’t make it affordable with a driver. And if users know how to use a scooter, why do you need a driver?”
Bounce’s primary competitors are local players Vogo, which is backed by Ola and Yulu, which maintains a close relationship with Uber and has recently raised $8 million in Series A funding. Uber is also in talks with Bounce to list the later’s scooters on its app and soon a pilot project will be launched in Bangalore.
This growth in scooter mobility is not new for India as it is the world’s largest market for two-wheelers with about 20 million new two-wheelers being sold annually.
HrNxt.com Newsdesk has researchers and writers with an excellent domain knowledge about the talent ecosystem, and the business environment. The team keeps a tab on the latest happenings in the ecosystem to bring most relevant news and insights for our readers. You can connect with our newsdesk at newsdesk@hrnxt.com.