Bike and scooter rental company Bounce is developing its own fleet of electric vehicles with the help of a new investment of $105 million.
B Capital Group and Accel Partners led the round, bringing the company’s total funding to date to more than $194 million.
There was also participation from previous investors Chiratae Ventures, Falcon Edge, Maverick Ventures, Omidyar Network India, Qualcomm Ventures and Sequoia Capital India.
The Series D round raises the company’s valuation to more than $500 million, according to TechCrunch.
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Bounce, which was founded in 2014, operates a network of dockless scooters in more than 35 cities in India.
The Bengaluru, India-based startup said its users have clocked in more than 16 million rides to date.
“The main vision of Bounce is to democratize mobility and thus make a significant socio-economic impact,” says Vivekananda Hallekere, co-founder and CEO of Bounce. “This fresh funding will help us towards this vision.”
The company said the funds will be used to drive expansion into new cities, hire new talent, move towards profitability and fuel a deeper electric vehicle integration.
Co-founder and CTO Varun Agni told CNBC TV18 that the company is “investing heavily” in electric vehicle technology, with plans to expand its electric vehicle fleet from 250 to about 1,000 by the end of the month.
With its accelerated adoption of electric vehicles, Bounce aims for sustainable mobility and to reduce its cost per kilometer.
Says Kabir Narang, general partner at B Capital Group and new Bounce board member: “B Capital Group has been impressed by the execution capabilities of the Bounce team.
“With its dockless fleet of scooters, Bounce is a short-distance mobility solution that is affordable and efficient.”