Dockless scooter rental service Bounce raises $3 mn in venture debt

Bengaluru-based Wickedride Adventure Services Pvt. Ltd, which operates dockless scooter sharing platform Bounce, has raised $3 million (Rs 21.79 crore at current exchange rates) in venture debt from InnoVen Capital, a company statement said.

The company will use the capital to expand its services across India, the statement added.

“Bounce is creating a very interesting and useful category for last-mile commute in Indian cities, characterised by a dense population, infrastructural issues and lack of convenient and affordable commuting options,” Ankit Agarwal, director at InnoVen Capital, said in the statement.

Bounce last raised funding in August. It secured $12.2 million (Rs 83.6 crore) in a round co-led by Sequoia Capital India and Accel Partners.

In February, the family investment office of Sutures India chairman Chandrasekhar Gopalan had invested $1.5 million (Rs 10 crore) in the Bengaluru-headquartered company.

Wickedride Adventure Services Pvt. Ltd was set up in 2014 by Vivekanand Hallekere along with Varun Agni and Anil G. The company initially offered motorbikes and scooters on rental primarily for urban commuters. It tweaked its business model to dockless scooter sharing service but has continued to run its rental business. At the time of its last funding round, Wickedride rebranded Metro Bikes into Bounce.

According to the company, the average cost per kilometre is as low as Rs 6 for a Bounce user. With most intra-city commute being less than five kilometres, the service has seen widespread adoption. The company claims that it has clocked over 250,000 downloads on its Android and iOS platforms.

Besides Bounce, the company also operates WickedRide, its premium motorbike rental service, where users can rent from a fleet of bikes which includes brands such as Harley Davidson, Benelli, Royal Enfield, Kawasaki, Triumph, Ducati, KTM and Americana.

InnoVen Capital

The venture debt firm typically invests at the Series A level in early-stage startups, which it also mentors.

OYO Rooms, Swiggy, Byju’s, Nestaway, Pepperfry, Prizm Payments, Shaadi.com, Shopclues, and Myntra are some of its well-known portfolio companies.

It is also known for the largest venture debt deal in the country. In September 2017, it put $15.4 million (Rs 100 crore) in Nasdaq-listed Yatra Online, Inc.

In January-June this year, InnoVen Capital committed funding worth Rs 418 crore, of which it disbursed Rs 300 crore.

Its most recent deals include online drugstore PharmEasy, children-focused education startup Flinto and executive education firm Eruditus.

Deals in the space

A few ventures in the broader online vehicle rental space have garnered investor in the past few months.

In April, online scooter rental platform Vogo raised $7 million (Rs 45.5 crore) in a round led by homegrown ride-hailing major Ola. Venture capital firms Stellaris Venture Partners and Matrix Partners had also put in money.

In February this year, car rental startup Zoomcar raised $27.6 million (Rs 176 crore) from automotive major Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd as part of a $40-million Series C round.

In January this year, Bengaluru-based self-riding bike rental company Ontrack raised an undisclosed amount in seed investment from Diverse Middle East FZE, a Dubai-based family office, and others.