MYBYK will use the funds primarily to invest in technology, talent acquisition and marketing.
MYBYK bicycle sharing, India’s leading startup operating in shared transport and micro-mobility sector has raised $1 million in pre-Series A funding from Avon Cycles and other investors, including Mr. Sanjay Baweja, ex-CFO, Flipkart.
This is the maiden round of funding for the Ahmedabad-headquartered and bootstrapped startup. MYBYK bicycle sharing will use the funding to scale-up the deployment of technology including introduction of electric pedal assist bicycles, expand the leadership team and bolster marketing efforts, as it looks forward to expanding to new geographies in India. The startup is targeting to increase its fleet to two million bikes by 2025.
“We are grateful to Avon Bicycles and our esteemed investors for reposing faith in us. This development is a testament to our resolve to redefining the public mobility landscape through accessibility, affordability and reliability. We remain steadfastly committed to the goal of mitigating carbon footprints through sustainable transportation,” said Mr. Arjit Soni, Founder and CEO, MYBYK.
“As a leader in the bicycle industry, it is our innate responsibility and pleasure to extend support to endeavours in promoting cycling as first and last mile connectivity solutions. Our contribution to MYBYK shall go a long way in easing pressure on traditional modes of transport and existing infrastructure as well as bringing about sustainable environmental changes” said Mr. Onkar Singh Pahwa, CMD, Avon Cycles Ltd.
Short-term goals:
The app based company aims to transform Ahmedabad into the country’s first bicycle capital by introducing 20,000 bicycles in the city in the next 9-12 months and then replicate the success across multiple cities in India.
At present, MYBYK has a network of 1600+ cycles available to users across 120+ stations, already making Ahmedabad the country’s largest and most successful public bicycle share (PBS). The company aims to have one MYBYK in every household of the city.
The startup is also partnering with public transport authorities such as Ahmedabad Janmarg Limited (BRTS) and Kochi Metro in its endeavour to transform into a Mobility as a Service (MaaS) platform. The model will integrate public transport ticketing within the MYBYK app and partner with taxi aggregators and self-drive car rentals.
“Mobility needs of a user will vary on some days and our vision is to combine all transport options into one affordable subscription” said Arjit Soni.
As on date, MYBYK has a total fleet size of 6000+ cycles spread across multiple cities and campuses. Besides partnering with smart cities (Ahmedabad, Udaipur, Rajkot and Kochi) and Metro Rail Authorities (Mumbai Metro, Kochi Metro), MYBYK also has partnered with leading brands such as Reliance Industries Limited (Jamnagar), Adani Shantigram Township (Ahmedabad), SRF Chemicals & Meghmani Finechem (Dahej), Alembic Pharma (Baroda) to offer intra-campus mobility for their employees/residents.
Source and photo credits: MYBYK
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Author: Vijay Malhotra, Mumbai
