Bounce raises ₹10 crore in venture debt from Sachin Bansal-led BACQ

Bengaluru: Two-wheeler rental startup Bounce has raised its final tranche worth ₹10 crore in debt from Sachin Bansal-led investment firm BACQ Acquisitions Pvt Ltd., according to documents sourced from business information platform Paper.vc.

The current funding is part of BACQ’s debt investment into Bounce, which was originally announced in March, when BACQ invested $3 million each in debt in two startups including Bounce, and Ola-backed VOGO.

Sachin Bansal under his personal capacity also led a $51 million investment round into electric vehicle maker Ather Energy in May this year. Bansal had chipped in $32 million in that round.

Bengaluru-based Bounce had also recently announced its Series C round worth $72 million led by global technology fund B Capital Group and Falcon Edge Capital, a New York-based hedge fund. Other investors, including Accel Partners India, Accel Partners USA, Chiratae Ventures, Maverick Ventures, Omidyar Network India, Sequoia Capital India and Qualcomm Ventures, also participated in the round.

Till date, Bounce has raised more than $92 million in funding including the Series C round. Prior to this, it had raised $8 million in the Series B round of funding led by Chiratae Ventures. The startup had also secured $3 million in debt funding from Innoven Capital in April.

Bounce’s mobile app allows users to pick up a scooter and drop it at any legitimate parking spot. Bounce recently crossed the 2 million rides mark, putting it on par with global players like Bird and Mobike, the company said. Bounce plans to introduce more than 50,000 vehicles during the current year.

Bounce was founded in 2014 by Vivekananda H.R., Varun Agni, and Anil G. as Wicked Ride. It offered premium motorcycle rentals under the ‘Wicked Ride’ brand and later added commute bikes under the Metro Bikes label, rebranded as Bounce in August 2018. At present, Bounce has a fleet of more than 5,000 keyless scooters in Bengaluru.