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Metro Bikes Rebrands to Bounce, Raises $12.2M Series A Funding Led by Sequoia India & Accel Partners
Post investment, Shailesh Lakhani, managing director at Sequoia Capital India, and Anand Daniel, partner at Accel, will join the startup’s board.
Bengaluru-based Metro Bikes, a rental startup for scooters and motorcycles, has raised Series A investment of $12.2 million led by Sequoia India and Accel Partners. The company has also changed its brand name to Bounce.
Post investment, Shailesh Lakhani, managing director at Sequoia Capital India, and Anand Daniel, partner at Accel, will join the startup’s board.
The funds will be used to further scale the Bounce network across Bangalore, invest in a robust delivery model through innovations in technology and develop a pan India presence by expanding to all major cities across India by 2020. Raghunandan G, Founder of TaxiForSure and a consortium of other investors have also participated in this round.
Founded by Vivekananda HR, Varun Agni and Anil G, the start-up offers a dockless scooter sharing service allowing users to pick up the scooter from anywhere, ride to their destination and drop it off at any location.
Talking about the firm’s fund raise, Vivekananda HR, Co-Founder, Bounce, said, “There is tremendous potential for innovation in the shared mobility segment given the major gap in last mile connectivity in intra-city travel. We are looking at a market opportunity of $4.5 billion. And we are delighted that now, with the support of Sequoia India and Accel Partners, we can bring these innovations and solutions to people on a much larger scale.”
“We’ve also gone beyond scooters, offering other forms of transport including bicycles, electric pedelecs and kick scooters across the city. And Bounce seemed like an appropriate name for our new avatar. A service available across vehicles, and all over the city”, he added.
The average cost per km is as low as Rs 6 for a Bounce user. With most intra-city commute being sub 5 km, the service is, therefore, already seeing massive adoption. So far, the company has seen over 200k downloads on its android & iOS platforms.
Earlier investors of Bounce include Captain Prashant Priya, a serial entrepreneur and LG Chandrasekar, co-founder, Sutures India.
Bounce competes with the likes of bike rental startups such as Rentabike, Stoneheadbikes, and Vogo among others. Recently, Beijing-based bike rental service Ofo also announced its plan to launch its services in India in a tie-up with Paytm.
Post investment, Shailesh Lakhani, managing director at Sequoia Capital India, and Anand Daniel, partner at Accel, will join the startup’s board.
The funds will be used to further scale the Bounce network across Bangalore, invest in a robust delivery model through innovations in technology and develop a pan India presence by expanding to all major cities across India by 2020. Raghunandan G, Founder of TaxiForSure and a consortium of other investors have also participated in this round.
Founded by Vivekananda HR, Varun Agni and Anil G, the start-up offers a dockless scooter sharing service allowing users to pick up the scooter from anywhere, ride to their destination and drop it off at any location.
Talking about the firm’s fund raise, Vivekananda HR, Co-Founder, Bounce, said, “There is tremendous potential for innovation in the shared mobility segment given the major gap in last mile connectivity in intra-city travel. We are looking at a market opportunity of $4.5 billion. And we are delighted that now, with the support of Sequoia India and Accel Partners, we can bring these innovations and solutions to people on a much larger scale.”
“We’ve also gone beyond scooters, offering other forms of transport including bicycles, electric pedelecs and kick scooters across the city. And Bounce seemed like an appropriate name for our new avatar. A service available across vehicles, and all over the city”, he added.
The average cost per km is as low as Rs 6 for a Bounce user. With most intra-city commute being sub 5 km, the service is, therefore, already seeing massive adoption. So far, the company has seen over 200k downloads on its android & iOS platforms.
Earlier investors of Bounce include Captain Prashant Priya, a serial entrepreneur and LG Chandrasekar, co-founder, Sutures India.
Bounce competes with the likes of bike rental startups such as Rentabike, Stoneheadbikes, and Vogo among others. Recently, Beijing-based bike rental service Ofo also announced its plan to launch its services in India in a tie-up with Paytm.
Source: BW Disrupt
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