Deal Street: Bounce Raises $6.5 Million In Debt Funding, Chqbook.com Gets $5 Million

Three startups, across sectors such as mobility, fintech and real estate, raised $17.5 million in venture capital funding last week. A Bengaluru-based startup led the funding pack. Here’s what went on...

Bounce—an app-based scooter-sharing startup—raised $6.5 million (Rs 47 crore) in debt funding from InnoVen Capital to fund its expansion as shared mobility picks up steam in India. The latest infusion, according to a statement, takes the startup’s total debt funding from the venture investor to about $12 million.

This comes just weeks after the Bengaluru-based firm raised $105 million, or around Rs 748 crore, in a round led by existing investors Accel and B Capital, the investment firm led by Facebook Inc.’s co-founder Eduardo Saverin.

The fresh funding, the company said, will be used to expand to more cities and towns in the country, fuel electric vehicle integration and offer various mobility options to the users in the country. “The fund raised will help in realising these goals while we march towards profitability,” Vivekananda HR, chief executive officer and co-founder at Bounce, said in the statement.

So far, Bounce has raised around $214 million, making it India’s most-funded bike rental startup. Its closest peer Vogo follows with about $177 million funding to date, according Crunchbase, which collates information on startups.

Founded in 2014, Bounce has 23,000-plus dockless rental scooters operating in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, doing more than 130,000 rides a day. The startup competes with Kalaari Capital- and Ola-backed Vogo, and Shunwei Capital-backed Rapido.

MultiLiving, a home rental platform for professionals and millennials, raised $6 million (about Rs 45 crore) from Lodha Ventures, the family office of Lodha Group’s Abhinandan Lodha.

The funds will be used to enhance its technology infrastructure and drive growth, the Mumbai-based company said in a statement. MultiLiving curates apartments from homeowners and offers personal concierges for tenants. For the owners, it promises regular returns, besides offering end-to-end services like rent collection.

The firm said it selects apartments after conducting numerous quality and adaptability checks. It also screens potential tenants and has an insurance policy, the HomeShield Plan, to cover against accidental damages and unforeseen expenses.

At present, the home rental platform is operating in Mumbai.

Fintech startup Chqbook.com raised $5 million (Rs 37 crore ) in a growth funding round from Aavishkaar Capital, the venture capital arm of the Aavishkaar Group.

The Gurugram-based company said it would use the funds to scale its distribution across cities, strengthen its proprietary artificial intelligence-powered platform and expand its customer base.

“We are building India’s first marketplace bank and will be the financial control centre for small business owners by offering them massive product choice and superior customer experience,” Vipul Sharma, co-founder and chief executive officer at Chqbook.com, said in the statement.

Founded in 2017, Chqbook.com is a marketplace for small business owners, offering them products around lending, credit cards, insurance, accounts, and reward. It also allows customers to explore, compare, book and get home loans.