Indian bike rental startup Bounce is close to finalising a $200-million funding round from existing and new investors, TechCircle reported.
Existing investors Accel US and B Capital Group, a global technology fund led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, are expected to contribute a large chunk of the amount while a US-based venture capital firm may join in as a new investor, the report added.
Responding to an emailed query by DealStreetAsia, Bounce said, “We do not comment on industry speculations.”
Bounce has already raised about $120 million of the aforesaid amount, and will largely use the funds to expand its existing operations within and outside the country. It is slated to launch in Australia in the next two weeks.
In June, the startup announced that it has raised $72 million in its Series C funding round led by B Capital Group and New York-based hedge fund Falcon Edge Capital. Other investors Accel Partners India, Accel Partners USA, Chiratae Ventures, Maverick Ventures, Omidyar Network India, Sequoia Capital India and Qualcomm Ventures also participated in the round.
According to Crunchbase, Bounce has raised a total of $102.7 million in funding till date.
Founded in 2014 by Vivekananda HR, Anil G and Varun Agni, 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. It has deployed a fleet of over 7,000 dockless scooters in Bengaluru. In the city alone, it claims to have done over 5 million rides, covering 30 million km.
Bounce further plans to introduce 50,000+ vehicles this year, it said in a statement in June.
In November last year, Bounce had also acquired the India assets of Chinese dockless bike rental company Ofo.
Its closest competitor, Vogo, is reportedly also in talks to raise $40-50 million as equity to fuel its growth plans. Vogo has been looking to expand its fleet, with a focus to enhance the share of electric scooters in its roster.
In June, Vogo raised about $3.6 million from venture debt firm Alteria Capital. In December last year, ride-hailing giant Ola invested $100 million in the scooter-sharing startup with a view to enter the bike sharing space.
Vogo has raised $120.6 million in funding so far.