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Bounce’s Valuation Jumps To Half-A-Billion Dollars After Fresh Funding

Scooter rental startup Bounce raises $105 million in fresh funding round led by Accel Partners India and B Capital Group.

Source: Bounce. 
Source: Bounce. 

Bounce raised $105 million in fresh funding round led by Accel Partners India and B Capital Group, helping the scooter rental startup more than double its valuation in less than a year as shared mobility picks up steam in India.

Existing investors, such as Chiratae Ventures, Falcon Edge, Maverick Ventures, Omidyar Network India, Qualcomm Ventures and Sequoia Capital India, also participated in the round, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

While the company didn’t comment on the valuation, a person privy to the details told BloombergQuint that the fresh round values the firm at around $500 million. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity as valuations aren’t public yet.

Investors have ploughed more than half-a-billion dollars into shared mobility in India in the past 12 months, according to BloombergQuint’s compilation of fundraises. Startups such as Bounce, Drivezy, Vogo and Yulu, want to ease last-mile commuting problems through two-wheeler rental services.

The fresh round takes the overall capital raised by the Bengaluru-based Bounce to over $194 million. As part of the round, Kabir Narang, general partner and co-head of Asia at B Capital Group, will join Bounce's board.

“B Capital Group has been impressed by the execution capabilities of the Bounce team,” Narang said. The startup that achieved over 10 million rides in 2019 has the potential to reach over 200 million customers across the country with a highly engaged community of riders, he said.

Also Read: Bajaj Auto Backs Yulu In First Electric Mobility Bet

Founded in 2014, Bounce currently has a fleet of 20,000-plus dockless and docked scooters. The dockless scooters service is at present available in Bengaluru and Hyderabad with 13,000 and 2,000 vehicles, respectively, while the docked scooter rental service is present in over 35 cities.

Also Read: Ola To Invest $100 Million In Scooter-Sharing Startup Vogo

The company said it has so far clocked over 16 million rides and does more than 1.2 lakh rides per day. With the fresh infusion of capital, the firm is looking to migrate completely to electric vehicles.

“Our growth indicates the future belongs to shared mobility,” Vivekananda HR, co-founder and chief executive officer at Bounce, said in a statement. As the firm expands to more cities, he said, it aims to enable various mobility options to suit the specific needs of each customer.