India’s home grown bicycle sharing startup Mobycy is reportedly in discussion with several venture capital (VC) firms to raise nearly $3 Mn. According to reports, Venture Catalysts, IDG Ventures and Orios Venture Partners are top VC firms to take part in the on-going discussions. Mobycy last raised funds in November last year to raise seed funding of $500 Mn.
It is not clear whether discussion regarding fundraising is still in initial or closing stage.
The startup will use the capital infusion to add new verticals like e-bikes and e-scooters to its platform, claiming that it will be the first company in the country to rent e-bikes and e-scooters. The thrust over e-bikes and e-scooters reflects company’s support for green technology.
Started last year by Akash Gupta and Rashi Agarwal, Mobycy labels itself as India’s first bicycle sharing platform. Just like its other competitors, the startup parks dockless bicycles near college campuses and landmark places. Besides, it is leveraging breakthrough technologies like IOT based GPRS lock technology, geo-fencing and machine learning to enable smooth sharing of bicycles.
Currently, Mobycy offers services in Gurugram, Noida, Faridabad, Chandigarh, Pune and Bengaluru among other cities.
Bicycle sharing space is witnessing lot of momentum
India’s dockless bicycle sharing space, which is still clearly in nascent stage, is suddenly witnessing lot of momentum. While Mobycy is currently engaged in fundraising discussion, its Chinese counterpart Mobike launched operations in India in May. The Chinese startup is expected to go full throttle to expand its business to several prominent Indian cities in coming months.
However, Mobike’s entry has almost coincided with unexpected exit of Ofo, an Alibaba backed Chinese startup that launched operations in India earlier this year. Ofo said that India exit is part of its new global strategy, but sources claim that the company was facing serious fund crunch issues to keep its business intact.
Despite Ofo’s unceremonious exit, several analysts are still upbeat about the prospects of bicycle sharing market, claiming that market will grow on its own if the ecosystem for bicycle sharing gains momentum.