[Funding alert] Bicycle-sharing startup MYBYK raises $1M from Avon Cycles, others

Public bicycle-sharing startup MYBYK has raised $1 million in pre-Series A funding from Avon Cycles and other investors, including Sanjay Baweja, ex-CFO, Flipkart. 

This is the maiden round of funding for the Ahmedabad-headquartered startup. Mybyk said it will use the funding to scale up the deployment of technology by introducing electric pedal-assist bicycles, expanding the leadership team and bolstering marketing efforts, as it looks at expanding to new geographies in India. The startup is targetting to increase its fleet to two million bikes by 2025.

“We are grateful to Avon Bicycles and our esteemed investors for reposing faith in us. This development is a testament to our resolve to redefining the public mobility landscape through accessibility, affordability, and reliability. We remain steadfastly committed to the goal of mitigating carbon footprints through sustainable transportation," said Arjit Soni, Founder and CEO, MYBYK.

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“As a leader in the bicycle industry, it is our innate responsibility and pleasure to extend support to endeavours in promoting cycling as first- and last-mile connectivity solutions. Our contribution to MYBYK shall go a long way in easing pressure on traditional modes of transport and existing infrastructure, as well as bringing about sustainable environmental changes” added Onkar Singh Pahwa, CMD, Avon Cycles Ltd.

Founded in 2014, MYBYK aims to transform Ahmedabad into the country's first bicycle capital by introducing 20,000 bicycles in the city in the next nine to 12 months, and then replicate the success across multiple cities in India. At present, MYBYK claims to have a network of 1,600+ cycles available to users across 120+ stations, already making Ahmedabad the country's largest public bicycle share (PBS) city.

The startup is also partnering with public transport authorities such as Ahmedabad Janmarg Limited (BRTS) and Kochi Metro in its endeavour to transform into a Mobility as a Service (MaaS) platform. The model will integrate public transport ticketing within the MYBYK app and partner with taxi aggregators and self-drive car rentals. 

"Mobility needs of a user will vary on some days and our vision is to combine all transport options into one affordable subscription” said Arjit Soni.  

As of date, MYBYK has a total fleet size of 6,000+ cycles spread across multiple cities and campuses. Besides partnering with smart cities (Ahmedabad, Udaipur, Rajkot, and Kochi) and Metro Rail Authorities (Mumbai Metro, Kochi Metro), MYBYK also has partnered with brands such as Reliance Industries Limited (Jamnagar), Adani Shantigram Township (Ahmedabad), SRF Chemicals and Meghmani Finechem (Dahej), and Alembic Pharma (Baroda) to offer intra-campus mobility for their employees/residents.