A host of investors, led by ANI Technologies which owns cab hailing startup and Ola and Pawan Munjal of the Hero Group have made an investment in Vogo, a scooter sharing platform as part of its Series A funding rounds.
The other investors to have participated in this round of investment in Vogo include Stellaris Venture Partners, Matrix Partners India, Aprameya Radhakrishna (Founder, TaxiForSure), Rajesh Yabaji (Founder, Blackbuck) and Mayank Bidawatka (Founder, Goodbox).
Vogo is a dockless scooter rental company which lets customers rent scooters for short one-way trips at various locations across the city. The app enables users to locate, unlock and pick-up its scooters and bikes at one point, and drop it off at a different point, without the need for a docking station. Every Vogo scooter comes with an OTP based IoT sensor, that allows customers to access the key without the need for any human intervention and start their ride.
Only Bangalore and Hyderabad are the cities covered by Vogo as yet and they plan to add 1000 additional pickup points across these 2 cities over the year.
“Vogo was founded with a vision to revolutionise the existing transportation ecosystem in India, with a locally relevant solution that’s apt for a quick, inexpensive movement. Our goal is to make a Vogo scooter available in every nook and corner of the country that’s plagued with issues like traffic congestion, pollution and growing population. We’ve been working with the authorities since the launch of our operations late last year, to make this a reality in a vast majority of areas in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and the response has been quite overwhelming,” Anand Ayyadurai, Founder and CEO, Vogo said.
The funding by and association with companies like Ola is a ‘win-win’ formula for both. The ultimate aim is to facilitate better and faster movement of people from point A to point B in any city. Customers would end up saving time, money and will be exposed to less pollution.
The Vogo mobile app has so far been used by more than 27,000 users, the company claims, and they have collectively travelled in excess of 6 million kilometres according to the company.
Vogo’s founders are Anand, an IIM Ahmedabad alumnus; Sanchit, who did his engineering from IIT Bombay and Padmanabhan who has an MBA from ESSEC Paris.
Sandeep Divakaran, Vice President, Ola, said, "Mobility as an ecosystem in India provides immense opportunity to innovators to solve hyperlocal problems using technology and make everyday transportation convenient and affordable. As the country’s leading mobility platform, we are proud to have played a transformational role in building a robust and holistic transportation ecosystem at scale for millions of Indians. Vogo, a young innovator in the space is adding an effective layer to the first and last mile connectivity needs with its self-drive scooters. Their offering resonates with our vision and we are thrilled to be a part of their journey of providing smart and pocket-friendly transportation."