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Bike Bazaar, a two-wheeler services startup, raised Rs 170 crore as part of its ongoing Series D funding round from a consortium led by Women’s World Banking Asset Management (WAM), who joined existing investors Elevar Equity and Faering Capital.

The company is also in advance discussions with global investors for raising a further Rs 80 crore, taking the total Series D equity round to Rs 250 crore.

The Pune-based startup will use the funds to penetrate deeper into rural India as the need for personal mobility rises (especially among women) and also scale its marketplace business for selling used two-wheelers.

Srinivas Kantheti, MD of Bike Bazaar, said, “With a founding team that has spent a significant time understanding rural and semi-urban two-wheeler customers, Bike Bazaar has always been about creating customer-centric offerings. Today, we have significant momentum with our unique Direct Collection Model (DCM), reaching 1,000+ touchpoints across 140+ Indian cities. We also have one of the industry’s best GNPA scores and are bullish to scale.”

Founded in 2017, Bike Bazaar caters to the utility two wheeler-segment. It provides several affordable solutions, including two-wheeler lifecycle services — accessible and affordable financing for new and pre-owned vehicles, including EVs. It also offers a marketplace for trading and leasing pre-owned two-wheelers,  insurance, and servicing.

To date, Bike Bazaar’s financing business has disbursed 3,00,000+ two-wheeler loans, and the company had a cumulative GTV of Rs 1,500+ crore as of July 2022.

Nearly 70% of its customers are first-time borrowers from rural or semi-urban regions. The company also offers financing for second-hand bikes in India, with 20% of its disbursals going to second-hand buyers. 

Christina Juhasz, CIO of WAM, said, “Women’s World Banking is dedicated to women’s economic empowerment, and WAM is investing in Bike Bazaar’s demonstrated potential to provide accessible and affordable two-wheeler finance to financially underserved women in India, simultaneously enabling their mobility and developing their asset bases and credit profiles. We are inspired by Bike Bazaar’s clear focus on increasing women ridership, especially in Tier II and III towns and villages across India.”

In the last six months, Bike Bazaar has raised debt of nearly Rs 250 crore from various banks and financial institutions. The company is in talks with global EV-focused funds to raise Rs 200-250 crore for its two-wheeler EV financing, leasing, and services business. Since its inception, Bike Bazaar has raised Rs 400 crore in total equity funding.

Elevar, the founding investor in Bike Bazaar, continues to hold the largest stake in the company, in line with its thesis that mobility is linked to income generation opportunities for underserved and low-income communities.