Two-wheeler rental startup Vogo in talks to raise up to $50 million

Vogo Automotive Pvt. Ltd, which offers bikes on rent, is in talks to raise $40-50 million as equity to fuel its growth plans, said two people familiar with the matter, requesting anonymity.

The Bengaluru-based startup, which operates under the brand Vogo, has mandated Mumbai-based investment bank Avendus Capital for the latest fundraise, said the first person cited above.

The second person said the talks with multiple investors are at an early stage. Mint could not immediately ascertain the names of the potential investors.

“We don’t have any comment on your query, as a matter of policy,” said a spokesperson for Avendus Capital when asked about Vogo’s plans.

Anand Ayyadurai, chief executive officer, Vogo, did not respond to emailed queries, sent on Thursday, until press time.

Vogo has been looking to expand its fleet, with a focus to enhance the share of electric scooters in its roster.

The company had recently raised ₹100 crore in a Series B round from investors, including Kalaari Capital, Stellaris Venture Partners, Matrix Partners India and Pawan Munjal family trust.

Earlier in June, venture debt firm Alteria Capital made a fresh fund infusion of ₹25 crore into Vogo.

Last December, Vogo had raised $100 million from cab-hailing service Ola (ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd) as part of a new strategic alliance. The capital infusion had helped Vogo add 100,000 scooters and tap more users in Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad, besides listing on the Ola app.

Founded in 2016 by Ayyadurai, Padmanabhan Balakrishnan and Sanchit Mittal, Vogo 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. It also operates around 500 scooter stations across five cities and claims to have completed more than three million trips on its platform till date.

Vogo has more than 12,000 vehicles across five cities, up from around 5,000 as of April.