Bengaluru-based dockless scooter sharing startup Bounce has acquired Chinese dockless bicycle sharing giant Ofo‘s India assets. The details of the deal remain undisclosed. Some members of Ofo are also expected to join Bounce.
After starting operation in India in January this year, Ofo had to shut down operations in July, reportedly due to a cash crunch, the bike sharing startup decided to focus on more mature markets. During Ofo’s 10 weeks of operation in India, it clocked 1 million rides.
The acquisition will help the scooter rental startup to expand its bicycle-sharing vertical, as it looks to strengthen its presence across India.
Talking about the acquisition, Vivekananda HR, Co-founder, Bounce, said, “We bought bicycles from Ofo and acquired some key employees. We are not married to a form factor. For distances between 1 and 2 km, we feel the right form factor where infrastructure is available would be on a bicycle or electric bikes.”
Bounce was founded by Vivekananda Hallekere, Anil Giriraju, and Varun Aghi in 2016, while its parent company Wicked Rides was founded in 2014. Bounce was launched to provide a smart mobility solution by giving its users the option of one-way rental, which lets the users rent the bike from anywhere, travel to their destination, and drop off the bikes at any location.
The bike-sharing startup is operational in Bengaluru, Mysore, Jaipur, Udaipur, Belagavi, Manipal, Jaisalmer, Gokarna, Hyderabad, and few other cities.
Earlier in September 2018, Bounce raised ₹22 crore in a debt funding from InnoVen Capital.
Other players competing with Bounce in the shared mobility space include Vogo, ONN Bikes, Wheelstreet, and Mobycy, among others.