WheelsEMI Pvt. Ltd, which runs two-wheeler lifecycle service startup Bike Bazaar, has raised Rs170 crore ($21 million) in its ongoing Series D round of funding from a consortium led by Women’s World Banking Asset Management, said a senior company executive.
The Pune-based firm is also in advanced talks with investors to raise an additional Rs 80 crore to take the total fundraise in the Series D round to Rs 250 crore, K. Srinivas, co-founder and managing director, Bike Bazar said in an interview.
Bike Bazaar plans to deploy the fresh capital to grow its co-lending business across the two-wheeler segment, expand its geographical footprint and scale its electric vehicle business.
“We have started co-lending with other partners. To reduce our dependency on debt, we are entering into the co-lending segment for two-wheeler business. We are also in talks with an NBFC and an old bank for co-lending,” said Srinivas.
“We hope 50% of our disbursements will be covered through co-lending. We are also planning for retail financing business and for the EV business, we are getting a lot of investors’ interest,” he added.
Founded by Srinivas, V. Karunakaran and Ratheesh B. in 2017, Bike Bazaar offers affordable financing for new and pre-owned two-wheelers and a range of other solutions along the ownership cycle. This includes an assured marketplace for trading pre-owned two wheelers, as well as leasing, insurance, servicing and spare parts management.
Currently, the company operates in more than 140 India cities with 1,000 touchpoints and claims to have disbursed 300,000 two-wheeler loans so far. Earlier, Bike Bazaar raised Rs 25 crore in Series A, Rs 100 crore in Series B and Rs 105 crore in Series C rounds.
