Bike Rental Startup Metro Bikes Raises $12.2 Mn from Sequoia, Accel, TaxiForSure Co-Founder

Bangalore-based Wicked Ride Adventure Services Pvt. Ltd, which operates online rental service for scooters and motorcycles via app Metro Bikes and brand name 'Bounce', has raised $12.2 million in a Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital India, Accel Partners, Raghunandan G, co-founder of TaxiForSure, and a consortium of other investors have also participated this round.

The startup intends to utilize the funds in further scaling its network across Bengaluru, invest in a delivery model through innovations in technology and develop a pan-India presence by expanding to all major cities across India by 2020.

The startup, which recently changed its brand name to Bounce to avoid the confusion of being operational only in metro cities, has earlier raised $790,000 as seed fund in July 2015 followed by $1.5 Mn funding from Chandrasekhar Gopalan, chairman of Sutures India Pvt. Ltd, in February this year, according to data by Crunchbase.

Founded in May 2014 by Anil G, Varun Agni and Vivekananda Hallekere, Metro Bikes aka Bounce offers a dockless scooter sharing service allowing users to pick up the scooter from anywhere, ride to their destination and drop it off at any location.

The startup claims to be India's first smart urban mobility solution offering premium bikes including Harley Davidson, Triumph and Royal Enfield motorcycles. It charges on average ₹6 per kilometre from a rider.

Beside scooters and motorcycles, Bounce has also ventured into bicycles, electric pedalled bicycles and kick scooters.

In one of its future plans, the startup plans to eventually convert its entire fleet into electric vehicles and is in talks with partners in China and Taiwan to source such products.

H R Vivekananda, co-founder, Bounce, said that there is tremendous potential for innovation in the shared mobility segment given the major gap in last mile connectivity in intra-city travel. Market opportunity is around $4.5 billion.

Speaking about the funding, Shailesh Lakhani, managing director, Sequoia Capital India, said, "There has been a lot of attention on four-wheel shared mobility across the world. While it makes sense in other markets, a service like Bounce has immense potential in India, where limitations of space and cost has always made two-wheelers more popular."

"The network has the potential to be a category creator - being the first to offer an extremely cost-effective, personalised, motorised transport that fills a critical need gap in the Indian market — and Sequoia India is looking forward to being a part of this journey,” added Lakhani.

Last December, Y-Combinator backed Wheelstreet, touted as one of India’s largest motorbike rental platform, had launched a Dockless Commute platform for their users, which at that time was India's first. Prior to this, Mumbai-based self-drive bike rental platform ONN Bikes raised INR 4.5 crore from Venture Catalysts, Z Nation Lab and other angels.

Source - Business Standard

[Top Image ~ YourStory.com]

Bike Rental Startup Metro Bikes Raises $12.2 Mn from Sequoia, Accel, TaxiForSure Co-Founder

Bangalore-based Wicked Ride Adventure Services Pvt. Ltd, which operates online rental service for scooters and motorcycles via app Metro Bikes and brand name 'Bounce', has raised $12.2 million in a Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital India, Accel Partners, Raghunandan G, co-founder of TaxiForSure, and a consortium of other investors have also participated this round.

The startup intends to utilize the funds in further scaling its network across Bengaluru, invest in a delivery model through innovations in technology and develop a pan-India presence by expanding to all major cities across India by 2020.

The startup, which recently changed its brand name to Bounce to avoid the confusion of being operational only in metro cities, has earlier raised $790,000 as seed fund in July 2015 followed by $1.5 Mn funding from Chandrasekhar Gopalan, chairman of Sutures India Pvt. Ltd, in February this year, according to data by Crunchbase.

Founded in May 2014 by Anil G, Varun Agni and Vivekananda Hallekere, Metro Bikes aka Bounce offers a dockless scooter sharing service allowing users to pick up the scooter from anywhere, ride to their destination and drop it off at any location.

The startup claims to be India's first smart urban mobility solution offering premium bikes including Harley Davidson, Triumph and Royal Enfield motorcycles. It charges on average ₹6 per kilometre from a rider.

Beside scooters and motorcycles, Bounce has also ventured into bicycles, electric pedalled bicycles and kick scooters.

In one of its future plans, the startup plans to eventually convert its entire fleet into electric vehicles and is in talks with partners in China and Taiwan to source such products.

H R Vivekananda, co-founder, Bounce, said that there is tremendous potential for innovation in the shared mobility segment given the major gap in last mile connectivity in intra-city travel. Market opportunity is around $4.5 billion.

Speaking about the funding, Shailesh Lakhani, managing director, Sequoia Capital India, said, "There has been a lot of attention on four-wheel shared mobility across the world. While it makes sense in other markets, a service like Bounce has immense potential in India, where limitations of space and cost has always made two-wheelers more popular."

"The network has the potential to be a category creator - being the first to offer an extremely cost-effective, personalised, motorised transport that fills a critical need gap in the Indian market — and Sequoia India is looking forward to being a part of this journey,” added Lakhani.

Last December, Y-Combinator backed Wheelstreet, touted as one of India’s largest motorbike rental platform, had launched a Dockless Commute platform for their users, which at that time was India's first. Prior to this, Mumbai-based self-drive bike rental platform ONN Bikes raised INR 4.5 crore from Venture Catalysts, Z Nation Lab and other angels.

Source - Business Standard

[Top Image ~ YourStory.com]

Bike Rental Startup Wicked Ride Launches A Unique Bike Ride To Bhutan

Wicked Ride, a Bengaluru-based luxury bike rental company, has announced the launch of ‘Ride to Bhutan’, a unique bike ride to the land of the Thunder Dragon. This 8 nights and 9 days trip to Bhutan is scheduled to commence on 18th February 2016. Wicked Ride will manage all the logistics including shipping the bikes, accommodation and the ride itself allowing you to spend your time exploring Bhutan's expansive wilderness and absorb the majestic views.

Riders have an option of bringing their faithful bikes along and Wicked Ride can arrange for them to be shipped to Siliguri and back. The route, that takes you through some of the well tread path through Paro, Thimphu, Punakha and Haa, often on some of the best roads among dramatic scenery, is quite an adventure and great fun.. No trip to Bhutan is complete without a trek to the Takhtsang (Tiger's Nest) Monastery. For many, it is the main reason for their first trip to Bhutan.

Bhutan a little piece of heaven, nestled between India, Tibet & China, has a good share of best of the mountains from all three countries. It welcomes you to explore the iconic Himalayan range offering stunning views of the mountains that always seem to give you a big hug, has great weather and the crisp fresh air that intoxicates your lungs.

While towns and cities are comfortably tucked into its many valleys and the people are happy to say hello, or Kuzoo-Tzangpo-La, The Land Of The Thunder Dragon serves beautiful Himalayan vistas, mountains and forests in a fairy tale setting, amazing architecture, great traditional art, new cuisine, awesome photographic opportunities, happy people and of course, an inspiring ride.

"The once in a lifetime experience for many, of enjoying the world’s last remaining Buddhist Kingdom in the way that gives maximum exposure to the Himalayan elements, riding a motorcycle”, said Vivekananda H.R, Co-founder of Wicked Ride. “Wicked Ride offers it at an unbelievable price of INR 35,000/- excluding bike rentals. This includes accommodation for 8 nights and 9 days, all breakfasts, all lunches, all evening meals, and an English-speaking tour guide. The exclusions would be air-transfers, fuel, entry fees to monuments, museums, other personal expenses like shopping and other personal liability etc. We know the best roads; we book the accommodations and lead each of our tours. You simply have a great time!"

Headquartered in Bengaluru, Wicked Ride, a start-up, was founded in 2014 by three friends, Vivekananda H.R., Anil G and Varun Agni, who did not find options to rent motorcycles (especially high end luxury bikes) in Bengaluru at the time. Realizing that there is a rather new audience to cater to, they set up a company and started renting bikes starting from Royal Enfield to Harley-Davidson. They believe in making your dream come true as a biker – be it riding the premium bikes or experiencing the inexplicable joy of riding in the best biking destinations.

Bike Rental Startup Wicked Ride Launches A Unique Bike Ride To Bhutan

Wicked Ride, a Bengaluru-based luxury bike rental company, has announced the launch of ‘Ride to Bhutan’, a unique bike ride to the land of the Thunder Dragon. This 8 nights and 9 days trip to Bhutan is scheduled to commence on 18th February 2016. Wicked Ride will manage all the logistics including shipping the bikes, accommodation and the ride itself allowing you to spend your time exploring Bhutan's expansive wilderness and absorb the majestic views.

Riders have an option of bringing their faithful bikes along and Wicked Ride can arrange for them to be shipped to Siliguri and back. The route, that takes you through some of the well tread path through Paro, Thimphu, Punakha and Haa, often on some of the best roads among dramatic scenery, is quite an adventure and great fun.. No trip to Bhutan is complete without a trek to the Takhtsang (Tiger's Nest) Monastery. For many, it is the main reason for their first trip to Bhutan.

Bhutan a little piece of heaven, nestled between India, Tibet & China, has a good share of best of the mountains from all three countries. It welcomes you to explore the iconic Himalayan range offering stunning views of the mountains that always seem to give you a big hug, has great weather and the crisp fresh air that intoxicates your lungs.

While towns and cities are comfortably tucked into its many valleys and the people are happy to say hello, or Kuzoo-Tzangpo-La, The Land Of The Thunder Dragon serves beautiful Himalayan vistas, mountains and forests in a fairy tale setting, amazing architecture, great traditional art, new cuisine, awesome photographic opportunities, happy people and of course, an inspiring ride.

"The once in a lifetime experience for many, of enjoying the world’s last remaining Buddhist Kingdom in the way that gives maximum exposure to the Himalayan elements, riding a motorcycle”, said Vivekananda H.R, Co-founder of Wicked Ride. “Wicked Ride offers it at an unbelievable price of INR 35,000/- excluding bike rentals. This includes accommodation for 8 nights and 9 days, all breakfasts, all lunches, all evening meals, and an English-speaking tour guide. The exclusions would be air-transfers, fuel, entry fees to monuments, museums, other personal expenses like shopping and other personal liability etc. We know the best roads; we book the accommodations and lead each of our tours. You simply have a great time!"

Headquartered in Bengaluru, Wicked Ride, a start-up, was founded in 2014 by three friends, Vivekananda H.R., Anil G and Varun Agni, who did not find options to rent motorcycles (especially high end luxury bikes) in Bengaluru at the time. Realizing that there is a rather new audience to cater to, they set up a company and started renting bikes starting from Royal Enfield to Harley-Davidson. They believe in making your dream come true as a biker – be it riding the premium bikes or experiencing the inexplicable joy of riding in the best biking destinations.