ONN Bikes is a Mumbai-based startup engaged in renting out self-riding bikes and it has received a fresh round of investment of Rs 4.5 crore ($692,000) in a pre-series A funding round. The investment was led by existing investor in ONN Bikes, Z Nation Lab plus angel investors from JITO Angel Network and Venture Catalysts. Jayesh Parekh (Sunidhi Securities), Pankaj Harlalka (Narnolia Capital), Gaurav Gandhi, Nikunj Pachisia, and Vijay Lakhani are the names being mentioned from the Venture Catalysts platform to have participated in this funding. Motocruizer Technologies India Pvt. Ltdis the name of the company that runs the ONN Bikes venture.
Speaking on the investment, Namit Jain, Founder and CEO of ONN Bikes, said, “We are excited to have secured pre-Series A investment from Z Nation Lab, JITO Angels, and Venture Catalysts. Their vast expertise and combined networking capabilities will help us immensely in achieving our expansion goals by covering more cities and finding strong franchise partners. We are confident that, with such experienced investors and mentors on our side, we will solve major transportation challenges for the Indian market and establish ONN Bikes as the leading player in the self-drive bike rental domain.”
ONN Bikes has an app and a web-based platform to enable customers book their two-wheelers. There is flexibility in the rental periods - it can be daily, weekly or even monthly. The company has Uber, Swiggy and Ola as its customers already in the one and a half years of its operations. The company is said to be the only player in the B2B segment offering long-term leasing of vehicles.
The funds will be utilised by ONN Bikes to build a stronger technology base, increase the fleet size, expand to more cities, and promote its franchisee model. The start-up also plans to expand its range to electric vehicles in the coming months.
“We led the follow-on investment round because we have faith in the strong foundation that the ONN Bikes team is creating. The consistent growth with negligible cash burn and strong B2B partnerships speaks highly of the team’s execution capabilities. We have full faith that ONN Bikes will be able to sustain the growth momentum and continue growing at an accelerated pace,” Pushp Mitra Das, Lead investor with Z Nation Lab said.
The company currently operates in five major states of India, and has earlier raised two seed rounds from Z Nation Lab and Grace Capital Ventures.
Dr. Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder and President – Venture Catalysts, said, “Venture Catalysts is committed to revitalising and revolutionising the Indian start-up landscape by facilitating funding and mentoring opportunities for high-potential start-ups. Having undertaken in-depth research and viability analysis, we are delighted to say that ONN Bikes stood out from other start-ups in this space, thanks to the tremendous growth and market response that it has garnered. The numbers speak for themselves, and we’re very confident that ONN Bikes has the potential to be a key player in the sector, both within India and on a global stage.”