Bounce raises funds from InnoVen for EV integration, expansion

Bounce currently operates a fleet of more than 23,000 two-wheelers in 35 cities.The startup directly competes with other mobility services such as VOGO

App-based two-wheeler rental startup Bounce has raised $6.5 million from venture debt investor InnoVen Capital, taking its total debt funding from the latter to around $12 million. This is InnoVen’s third investment in Bounce in a span of 18 months.

The fresh funding will be used for electric vehicle (EV) integration, geographical expansion, and for operations.

The fresh funding will be used for electric vehicle (EV) integration, geographical expansion, and for operations, the company said on Monday.

InnoVen’s investment into Bounce comes just weeks after the Bengaluru-based startup raised $105 million in a Series D round led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s venture capital fund B Capital in February. The round had valued the bike rental startup at a little over $500 million, making it the biggest company in term of valuation in the mobility segment in India.

Till date, Bounce has raised around $200 million from notable investors such as Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners India, Chiratae Partners, Omidyar Network, Vistra ITCL, SCI Investments, and Qualcomm Ventures.

“The first time we invested in Bounce in 2018, we were actually helping the company build a credit history by giving money on the debt side. Our first investment intoBounce was a risky bet, but then the company went on to do three successful funding rounds and hence we believe that they are the clear market leader in the two-wheeler rental space,” Ashish Sharma, managing director, InnoVen Capital.

Bounce currently operates a fleet of more than 23,000 two-wheelers in 35 cities. It offers scooter rental in two formats—a per-hour rental option and a dockless two-wheeler sharing option —largely aimed at daily commuters. Users can pick up and drop the vehicle only within city limits. In October 2019, the rental startup had crossed 100,000 daily rides mark in its home city in Bengaluru.

Till date, InnoVen Capital India has completed over 250 transactions with more than 170 startups across various stages, including Swiggy, Byjus, Oyo Rooms, CureFit, Myntra, DailyHunt, FirstCry, Blackbuck, Rivigo, Ather Energy and Yatra. "In the last 24 months alone, we have completed around 30 transactions as follow-up investments in our existing portfolios,” added Sharma in a phone interview.

The startup directly competes with other mobility services such as VOGO, which had raised $100 million from Ola in December 2018 for its docked two-wheeler rental service and Yulu, which offers electric cycles and bicycles for hire and secured an $8 million investment from Bajaj Auto Ltd in November 2019.

“InnoVen has backed our vision from very early days and been an incredible partner to work with. As we expand to more cities and towns, we will transition to a diverse shared mobility platform to enable various mobility options as per specific needs of each customer. The fund raised will help in realising these goals while we march towards profitability,” said Vivekananda H.R, chief executive of Bounce.

Bounce was founded in 2014 by Vivekananda H.R., Anil G and Varun Agni. The six-year-old startup also has an electric vehicle arm named ‘Zuink Smart Mobility Solutions’.