Metro Bikes bounces back with new name and $12 Mn funding

With the change in name from Metro Bikes to Bounce, the two-year-old motorcycle and scooter-sharing startup has bounced back with $12.2 million funding raised from Sequoia India and Accel Partners, along with a consortium that includes Raghunandan G, founder of TaxiForSure.

This is the Series-A investment in the startup which it had been looking for the past few months and was in continuous talks with the investors.

The startup plans to use the funds in scaling up the network in Bengaluru, invest in a robust delivery model through innovations in technology and expand to major cities across India by 2020.

With over 1,000 bikes in three states, and 12 cities including Jaipur and Bhuj across India, Metro Bikes aims to address the pain of last-mile connectivity.

The service allows users to pick up scooters from locations closest to them and drop them at end-trip spots, priced by the hour and distance.

Its scooter rentals are priced at about Rs 6.5 per km. The company plans to add 10,000 scooters in the next six months and go all the way to 30,000 over the next year. Its fleet consists of Dios, Activas and Wegos to Pulsars, CBZs and a whole lot more. It also provides bikes for agents working with food and grocery delivery companies.

Besides, the company is looking to add more scooters to its Bengaluru portfolio. Meanwhile, it already has started operations with 500 scooters in Hyderabad.

Bounce has also launched bicycles and electric bicycles called pedelecs. The company plans to introduce kick scooters across the city, especially in corporate and educational campuses, as it targets a market opportunity of $4.5 billion in the shared mobility space.

The development was first reported by ET.