Sequoia-backed Bounce lays off 5% of staff to cut costs

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Scooter rental and electric two-wheeler manufacturer Bounce has laid off about 5 percent of its staff or around 40-50 employees across customer support, finance, and other segments to cut costs, said sources aware of the development.

“The focus at Bounce is shifting to the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) business and the layoffs are to drive efficiency for the same,” said an industry source aware of the development.

Sources said that the firm has about 500-700 employees in India.
Having been severely hit by the pandemic, Bounce pivoted to making EVs, Bounce Infinity, while slowing down the bike rental operation. In fact, in FY21 its revenue shrunk by about 52 percent to Rs 53 crore. The company earned income from interest from fixed deposits and other investments. Its total expenses were recorded at around Rs 358 crore with employee costs accounting for nearly 40 percent.

Bounce did not comment on Moneycontrol's queries on layoffs. This story will be updated if they decide to comment.

In April 2022, Bounce Infinity announced the commencement of production of the E1 electric scooter from its manufacturing facility in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan.

This is the third round of layoffs at Bounce.

As of 2021, Bounce laid off nearly 80 percent of its workforce totaling at least 300 people, including senior leaders, as part of a desperate cost-cutting exercise to survive the hard knocks of the pandemic slowdown.

Bounce's parent company, WickedRide Adventure Services Pvt. Ltd was co-founded in 2014 by Vivekananda Hallekere, Anil G, and Varun Agni and was initially started as a luxury bike rental service under the name, WickedRide.
Bounce has so far raised $200 million from investors such as Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners India, Chiratae Partners, Omidyar Network, Vistra ITCL, SCI Investments, and Qualcomm Ventures.

In 2020, the firm raised around $6.5 million from venture debt investor InnoVen Capital, taking its total debt funding from the investor to around $12 million. The round valued the bike rental startup at a little more than $500 million.