India’s scooter rental space is back in news, after having a rather busy investment year already. And this time, its Vogo, a dockless scooter rental startup that has raised $19 million in a fresh round. The capital raise values Vogo at about $76 million, and was led by the Princely house of Liechtenstein with a $15.6 million investment. Existing backers Kalaari and Matrix also contributed their bit.
The round came into light via company’s filings with the Registrar of companies. In addition to the current round, Vogo has previously raised money from Ola (Ani Technologies) and Stellaris Venture Partners.
The money will be crucial for Vogo, as it competes with much larger players like Bounce, which recently raised over $250 million in a span of just four months. India’s scooter rental space has seen intense competition of late, making it the world’s largest market in the domain. India already is, the world’s largest two wheeler market by sales as well as production.
This round seems to also include a $2 million bridge round that the company raised from its existing backers Kalaari and Matrix in December last year. Prior to that, the company’s plan to raise funds from Goldman Sachs fell through. About two months ago, the startup had signed an exclusive term sheet wherein Goldman Sachs was to lead a $50 million round in the company, valuing it at about $200 million. However, an internal restructuring of Goldman Sachs’ private equity and investment team led the company to withdraw its offer a few weeks ago.
Vogo was founded in 2016 by Anand Ayyadurai, Padmanabhan Balakrishnan and Sanchit Mittal. The company allows users to locate bikes on its app and use them for travel within the city. The scooters are fitted with patented technology that allows users to directly access and start the scooter via its app.
