Bike renting startup Vogo has raised an undisclosed amount from former Myntra CEO Ananth Narayanan, serial entrepreneurs K Ganesh and Srini Anumolu, as well as Manish Vij, the founder of SVG Media. The deal came via the Stellaris Founder Network.
“Vogo is solving a problem that affects millions of Indians — finding an affordable, reliable commute option for everyday use. The traction and rapid growth they have seen is a real validation of their strong product-market fit and a testament to their commitment towards providing superior customer experience with a dense network of VOGO stations,” said Ananth Narayanan, ex CEO, Myntra, Jabong.
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The startup had previously raised over $120 million in Series A and B rounds from ride-hailing major Ola as well as venture capital firms Kalaari Capital, Matrix Partners and Stellaris Venture Partners. Earlier this month, Vogo had raised $3.6 million in debt funding from Alteria Capital.
Sources said that Ola is looking to emulate Vogo’s model for its own fleet of cars. Ola and Vogo formed a strategic partnership in December last year where the former will add 1,00,000 new scooters for Vogo. The announcement comes a day after one of Vogo’s direct competitors, Bounce, announced its $72 million Series C funding.
However, Vogo’s model includes a station where users have to pick up and drop the bikes while Bounce operates a dockless model. Even Zoomcar has entered this sector with its own offering of bikes. Although, all three companies have a restrictive payment option, having only PayTM as a payment option. Vogo is currently present in Bengaluru and Hyderabad.