Ritika Pandey
The ease with which Vivekananda HR, Co-founder of bike rental platform Bounce, shook off a slew of data points related to Bounce’s successful achievements in rendering an alternate mode of transportation for daily as well as first-and last-mile commute were all proof of the perfect rigorous planning and hard work for the same that led into the making of Bounce.
Presently, if you have ever traveled in Bengaluru, you may have noticed the bright yellow and red Bounce scooters parked outside Metro stations. Further, after the 11 other cities that Bounce operates in and for the commuters in Bengaluru, these daily commute bikes are an answer to their last-mile woes.
Bounce’s key-less scooters are an incredible way to permit its customers the easiness of picking up a bike from anywhere through its app and dropping it at any location once they reach their destination. Bounce’s easy function involves three bike rental plans including commute (assured bike everyday), short ride (pick and drop anywhere), and long ride (long duration rentals) aiming at encouraging commuters to opt for shared and public transport while reducing traffic congestion.
Still, for the Founders Vivekananda, Varun Agni, and Anil G, their path towards the mobility space did not just start with Bounce, or Metro Bikes as it was earlier called in fact, in 2014, the three back then, founded Wicked Ride, a premium bike rental platform. The idea to start ‘Wicked Ride’ flashed to them when Anil had to wait 12 months for a Royal Enfield bike after placing his wanted order. “We found it ridiculous that someone had to wait for so long for one bike. Then we realised that it would be a problem for any high-end bike: Harley Davidson, Hayabusa, or any other luxury bike. And instead of spending several lakhs it is better to rent it,” claimed Vivekananda.
The team further later on started to offer daily commute bikes under the Metro Bikes label, skilfully named after the source of their idea to begin what would later be called Bounce. Presently, the reason for the last- and first-mile commute is a bigger challenge in India because infrastructure development in the country is not moving at the same pace as urbanization, especially in the top five metros, marks Vivek. The company’s pricing model works as such— the cost of petrol works out to Rs 1.75 to Rs 2 per km and maintenance to Rs 1.5 per km. This works out to over Rs 4 per km. If you charge anything above that you start making Re 1 for every kilometer.
However, the team can further lessen the cost of the plan, and that is where electric vehicles(EVs) come into action. The cost of electricity significantly pulls down the overall price to Rs 0.5 per km, which signifies that the consumer can be charged Rs 3 per kilometer and still permitting Bounce to make income out of the startup.
