Electrifying mobility: How entrepreneurs changed tack to survive pandemic

To survive the Covid-induced downturn, bike-sharing start-up Bounce changed its strategy and jumped on the EV bandwagon

In 2019, Bounce became the world’s fastest-growing bike-sharing firm, doing 60,000 rides per day. That number went up to 120,000 rides a day by 2020 and the Bengaluru-based firm’s valuation crossed $500 million after it raised $105 million.
 
The start-up, founded in 2014, was scaling on a par with global players, including US-based scooter-rental companies Lime and Bird. It had plans to expand in the country and also to get into markets abroad.
 
Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit. As the government anno­unced restrictions to contain the spread, its users, mainly employees and students, were locked down in their