Bounce raises USD 105 mn led by Accel, B Capital

Shared mobility platform Bounce on Thursday said it has raised USD 105 million (about Rs 745 crore) led by Accel and B Capital Group.

The series D round also saw participation from existing investors, Accel Partners India, Chiratae Ventures, Falcon Edge, Maverick Ventures, Omidyar Network India, Qualcomm Ventures and Sequoia Capital India, a statement said.

Kabir Narang, general partner and co-head of Asia at B Capital Group, will join Bounce board, it added.

"The fresh funding, which takes the total amount raised to over USD 194 million, will fuel a deeper electric vehicle (EV) integration, platform play and help drive profitability," the statement said.

Bounce noted that accelerating adoption of EVs will not only help in pushing for sustainable mobility, but will also help the company reduce the cost per km.

"While Bounce finances all its bikes through debt, there is tremendous investments needed to build the necessary EV tech and enable the EV ecosystem...The funds will also be deployed towards multi-city expansion, enhancing tech infrastructure, talent acquisition etc," it added.

Bounce currently operates dockless scooters in Bengaluru and Hyderabad with a fleet of 13,000 and 2,000 vehicles, respectively. Its docked scooter rental service is available to commuters in over 35 cities.

At more than 1.2 lakh rides per day, Bounce has clocked over 16 million rides till date.

"Our growth to 1.2 lakh rides a day, in a little over a year and largely in one city, underlines that the future belongs to shared mobility. Shared mobility not only reduces the traffic but also frees up parking spaces, which in Indian cities is anywhere between 12-15 per cent of the total usable real estate," Bounce CEO and co-founder Vivekananda HR said.

The main vision of Bounce is to democratise mobility and make a significant socio-economic impact, he added.

"This fresh funding will help us towards this vision. It will also enable us to build a mobility platform that will help bringing in different forms of mobility solutions, that are hyper-suited to the needs of cities and towns we plan to expand into, over the next few months," he said.