Bike rental startup Bounce has raised Series D funding of $105 million, with Accel Partners India and B Capital Group leading the investment. Other existing investors Chiratae Ventures, Falcon Edge, Maverick Ventures, Omidyar Network India, Qualcomm Ventures and Sequoia Capital India also participated in the round.
With the Series D round, the total capital raised by Bounce is over $194 million. According to business intelligence platform paper.vc, the valuation of the startup has grown 140 percent to $494 million with this funding. Bounce was last valued at $205 million following funding in June 2019.
With this funding, Kabir Narang, general partner and co-head of Asia at B Capital Group, will be a part of the Bounce board.
Bounce currently operates its dockless scooters in Bengaluru and Hyderabad with 13,000 and 2,000 vehicles respectively. Bounce offers docked scooter rental service in over 35 cities. Till date, Bounce has clocked over 16 million rides and does more than 1.2 lakh rides per day.
The company said its vision to migrate completely to electric vehicles, by strengthening its current fleet of 20,000 plus vehicles, will be financed by the debt funds raised by the company. The company plans to introduce a significant chunk of electric vehicles to further strengthen the brand’s presence in Bengaluru.
"Our growth indicates the future belongs to shared mobility," Vivekananda HR, chief executive officer, Bounce, said in a statement, "Our long-term vision is to democratise the commute by making mobility accessible, reliable and affordable for all. As we expand to more cities and towns, we will transition to a diverse shared mobility platform to enable various mobility options to suit the specific needs of each customer. The fund raised will help us in realising these goals while we march toward profitability."
"B Capital Group has been impressed by the execution capabilities of the Bounce team. Bounce achieved over 10 million rides in 2019 and has the potential to reach over 200 million customers across the country with a highly engaged community of riders," said Narang.
"With its dockless fleet of scooters, Bounce is a short-distance mobility solution that is affordable and efficient. Over 40 percent of Bounce rides start or end at metro stations which also complements the public transportation infrastructure and solves the last mile connectivity. In addition, a Bounce bike takes over six bikes off the roads, helping reduce congestion and pollution from cities,” Narang added.
First Published: Jan 23, 2020 6:01 AM IST
