Bike Bazaar closes Series D equity funding of Rs 250 crore

Bike Bazaar, a leading pre-owned two-wheeler financing company has closed its Series D round of funding with a total equity raise of Rs 250 crore.

On Feb 6, the company announced that it has raised Rs 82 crores ($10 million) from DEG, a Germany-based development finance institution and a subsidiary of KfW Group, who have joined Women World’s Banking Asset Management (WAM), Elevar Equity and Faering Capital as part of its Series D funding.

Haitong Securities India was the investment banker and advisor for this round for Bike Bazaar, the company informed.

Bike Bazaar aims to deploy the funds raised to penetrate deeper into rural India, in line with the uptick in personal mobility needs. The company will continue to increase its focus on electric mobility in the B2B & B2C space with multiple offerings like finance, lease and rental solutions, it said in a statement.

Since the beginning of its Series D round in September 2022 till December 2022, Bike Bazaar has disbursed Rs 350 crores in two-wheeler financing, a year-on-year growth of 44 percent over September-December 2021.

Srinivas Kantheti, co-founder and MD of Bike Bazaar said, the  company is at the very core of the exponential growth in the two-wheeler financing ecosystem, encompassing used, new and electric two wheelers especially in tier-II and III markets.

“Bike Bazaar is doubling down on electric two-wheeler financing by offering unique products including leasing and rental solutions especially for last-mile delivery in the e-commerce and food-delivery industry. We would like to thank DEG and all our other investors for their continued vote of confidence,” added Kantheti.

Currently the company is present in 140+ cities across India with 1,000+ touchpoints. Bike Bazaar’s financing business has disbursed 3,75,000+ two-wheeler loans till date and the company had a cumulative disbursement of Rs 2,000+ crore as of December 2022. The company is on its way to achieve an asset under management or AUM of Rs 1,000 crore by the end of current financial year.  

Since its inception, the company has raised a total amount of Rs 482 crore in equity funding. Bike Bazaar’s Co-founders, Srinivas Kantheti and Karunakaran Vadakkepat bring decades of industry knowledge and operational experience from working together in two-wheeler sales and financing at one of India’s largest two-wheeler companies.

Commenting on the investment, Monika Beck member of DEG´s management board said, “With our financing, we are supporting the growth of a pioneering financial institution so that it can continue to drive financial inclusion amongst underserved demographics, especially females and small medium enterprises. Furthermore, we are specifically excited at the opportunities in the electric mobility space in India, which form a core part of Bike Bazaar´s strategy going forward.”

As per Bike Bazaar’s market outlook for the two-wheeler industry, the sales are expected to cross 1.7 crore units in the financial year 2022-23. The industry has registered a growth of 20 percent in the first three quarters over the last year, predominantly driven by the Tier II & III markets. Bike Bazaar is well placed within the industry to catalyse this growth, due to its deep-rooted presence across the states of UP, Bihar, MP, Rajasthan & West Bengal.

George Mathew, MD and CEO of Haitong Securities India, the financial advisor for Bike Bazaar in this round said, “The rich experience the founders and management team bring to the table has enabled Bike Bazaar to become a pioneer in the two-wheeler financing space making finance accessible in various Tier II and III areas of the country. Additionally, it is uniquely positioned to support the adoption of EV vehicles which is still at a nascent stage in India through innovative solutions. This fundraise will aid the company in further expanding its operations.”