Post fundraise, bicycle sharing startup MyByk eyes public transport linkage

Looks to partner with state govts in its endeavour to transform into a Mobility as a Service (MaaS) platform

Having raised $1 million in a pre-Series A funding from Avon Cycle and other investors, Ahmedabad-based public bicycle-sharing startup MyByk is now aiming to integrate its services and mobile application with public transport.

For this, MyByk is looking to partner with state governments in its endeavour to transform into a Mobility as a Service (MaaS) platform.

Commenting on the startup's plans after the latest fund raise, MyByk founder and CEO Arjit Soni said that the model will integrate public transport ticketing within the MyByk app and partner with taxi aggregators and self-drive car rentals to eventually offer a single subscription that takes care of all users' mobility needs.

"MyByk will use the funding to scale up the deployment of technology, ramp up hiring and bolster marketing efforts, as it looks forward to expanding to new geographies in India. The startup is targeting to increase its fleet to two million bikes (pedal and electric) by 2025," said Soni.

Currently, the bicycle sharing startup is operational in five cities and multiple campuses including Ahmedabad, Kochi (launched in March), Mumbai, Udaipur and Rajkot. With a cumulative bike fleet of 5500 bike fleet, MyByk plans to add 20000 bikes in the next one year on the back of the latest funding.

Talking about future fundraising plans, Soni said that while the startup is trying to tap the mini investors market with ticket size of Rs 10 lakh - Rs 20 lakh through sale and lease-back structure, customers too can become investors of MyByk.

"Users can go through the app and can invest in one or more bikes which he/she buys and lease it back to MyByk. Customers will become brand ambassadors and it would be cost effective," he added.

Going forward, the startup also plans to launch electric pedal assist bicycles by October 2021. According to Soni, capital cost for such a fleet is just 40 per cent lesser than an electric two-wheeler and MyByk would look at a 300-500 pilot fleet initially through the recently raised equity of $1 million.

Meanwhile, having bootstrapped for the last seven years, MyByk is witnessing a monthly run rate growth of 2x of what it did in March 2020. With the latest funding, the same is set to grow by at least 2.5x in the next 12 months, according to Soni.