Bicycle rental startup Mobycy raises funding

By Raaghav G R

Posted on December 6, 2017

Bycyshare Technologies Pvt. Ltd. owns and runs the bicycle rental startup, Mobycy. The startup announced yesterday (05/12/2017) that it has raised US $500,000 (Rs. 3.2 crores) in seed round of funding from a US-based angel investor. The startup was founded during January, this year (2017) by Mobikwik’s ex-vice president and marketing head, Akash Gupta. Akash Gupta said that the startup will use the funds to expand its presence throughout India and upgrade its technology platform (mobile app). Read more on Rental Startups

“We are starting with 5,000 bikes and the plan is to expand to at least five or six cities within the first six months. We are also developing the technology and building the app. The fund will also be used for team building. We are a team of 10 now”, Akash Gupta said.

Mobycy’s bicycles are fitted with IoT enabled communication devices and GPS – based tracking sensors so that the startup can track the exact location of its bicycles as well as track for how much time they are being used to prevent misuse of its smart bicycles. Mobycy’s bicycles can be parked anywhere where it is legal to park vehicles in a city. They do not need to be parked within any specific docking stations.

Hiring a Mobycy cycle for rent is really simple. One just needs to:

• Download Mobycy’s mobile app.
• Sign-up giving details such as one’s name, address, contact number, email id and Aadhar number.
• Select the duration for which one needs the bicycle.
• Locate the bicycle using the GPS image sent to one’s registered mobile number.
• Unlock the bicycle using the QR code sent to one’s registered mobile number.
• Enjoy the ride.
• Safely park the bicycle at one’s destination and complete the ride on the mobile app.

The rental fee is really low at just Re. 1/- per hour. If one wishes to rent a Mobycy bicycle for an entire month, he/she just needs to pay Rs. 999/- as a security deposit in advance. If one needs a bicycle for two hours every day for a month, he/she just needs to pay Rs. 99/- as a security deposit in advance. Students can also sign up using their college photo ID card but need to pay Rs. 499/- as a security deposit in advance. The startup currently operates only in the Delhi – NCR region but plans to expand its presence to all major cities and towns in India by the end of 2018.

The other bike rental startups to get funded this year (2017) include the bike rental startup, ONN Bikes, which secured US $692,000 (Rs. 4.5 crores) in Pre Series round of funding from Z Nation Lab during November, this year (2017). The scooter rental startup, Vogo, secured an undisclosed amount of seed funding from a clutch of angel investors during November, this year (2017) and finally the bike rental startup, 22Motors, secured US $1.6 million in Series A round of funding from two high-net-worth individuals (HNIs), Ishwari Singh and Farhaan Shabbir during April, this year (2017). Read more on Startup News

Bicycle rental startup Mobycy raises funding