Swiggy starts bike taxi pilot in 2 cities in partnership with scooter-sharing startup Bounce

Swiggy, an online food delivery service, has partnered with scooter-sharing startup Bounce to launch a bike taxi pilot in Indore and Ahmedabad.

Under this partnership, Swiggy’s delivery personnel uses Bounce’s ride-hailing service to pick up and drop customers when food delivery orders are low. While bikes and personnel are Swiggy’s, Bounce acts as a platform where they can find customers. The pilot of the service is said to be running for the past two months.

The reasons for choosing Indore and Ahmedabad for the pilot are reported to be the fact that these two are not high-density markets for Swiggy and the scope for experimenting is much higher. Additionally, the small size of the markets and the low chances of regulatory hurdles are said to be other reasons for selecting these locations.

A source said, “While this is just a pilot, the larger plan for Swiggy is to launch bike taxis in one of its major markets, which is said to be at least six months away. Bengaluru and Gurugram (Gurgaon) are being discussed as options.” 

Bounce was founded as Wicked Rides by Vivekananda HR, Varun Agni and Anil G in 2014. The company provides premium motorcycles for rent under the Wicked Rides banner, and commuter bikes under the Bounce brand.