Bike Bazaar Raises Upto INR 500 Crore In Series D Funding The company intends to use the funds to penetrate deeper into rural India as the need for personal mobility rises and also to scale its marketplace business for sale and purchase of used two wheelers
By Teena Jose
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Bike Bazaar, a two-wheeler lifecycle services and finance specialist, has raised INR 170 crore of equity funding as part of its ongoing Series D raise and is in advance discussions with leading global investors for a further INR 80 crore, taking the total Series D equity round to INR 250 crore, led by Women's World Banking Asset Management (WAM), along with existing equity investors Elevar Equity and Faering Capital. The company intends to use the Series D funds to penetrate deeper into rural India as the need for personal mobility rises and also to scale its marketplace business for sale and purchase of used two wheelers, thereby strengthening the company's core proposition of a hyper-local, affordable two-wheeler lifecycle services specialist.
"With a founding team that has spent a significant time understanding rural and semi-urban two wheeler customers, Bike Bazaar at its core have always been creating customer centric offerings. The Series D fundraise is primarily focused on cementing our position as a lifecycle services player in the two wheeler segment. We are thrilled to have WAM as an investor in our company. With a clear mandate of women empowerment, WAM will assist Bike Bazaar in its journey of getting more and more women on wheels (WOW)," said Srinivas Kantheti, MD, Bike Bazaar.
Currently, the company is present in more than 140 cities across India with over 1000 touchpoints. Bike Bazaar's financing business has disbursed over 3,00,000 two wheeler loans till date and the company had a cumulative GTV of INR 1500 crore as of July 2022, claimed by the company in a statement.
"Women's world banking is dedicated to women's economic empowerment and WAM is investing in Bike Bazaar's demonstrated potential to provide accessible and affordable two wheeler finance to financially underserved women in India. We are inspired by the company's clear focus on increasing women ridership especially in tier II and III towns and villages across India," said Christina Juhasz, CIO, WAM.
Founded in 2017 by Srinivas Kantheti and Karunakaran Vadakkepat, Bike Bazaar caters to the core-community two wheeler segment in India. For these customers, two wheelers are viewed as critical mobility solutions that contribute directly towards business, employment and education.
