In brief: Indian scooter startup acquires Ofo’s local assets

Bounce – previously known as Metro Bikes – announced it has acquired the India assets of Chinese bike-sharing giant Ofo. Some members of Ofo India’s senior management team have also joined Bounce.

Source: YourStory

Bangalore-based Bounce offers a dockless scooter, moped, and motorbike-sharing service across several Indian cities. Explaining the decision to move into bike-sharing with the Ofo acquisition, Bounce co-founder Vivekananda H R said the startup is “not married to a form factor.”

“For distances between 1 and 2 km, we feel the right form factor where infrastructure is available would be on a bicycle or electric bikes,” he added. 

The other terms of the deal were not disclosed.

See: Bike-sharing may struggle to survive amid toughening regulation

Facing a cash crunch, Ofo has withdrawn from several markets around the world – including India, Europe, and North America – to focus on what it considers its most promising locations in China, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

In August, Bounce raised US$12.2 million in a series A round led by Sequoia Partners and Accel Partners.