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Ola Invests In Scooter Sharing Startup Vogo, Along With Hero Motors And Others

Vogo is active in Bengaluru and Hyderabad as of now, and plans to add over 1,000 pickup points across the two cities in the coming year.
Vogo

Vogo, a scooter sharing startup based in Bengaluru, announced its series A funding today in a round led by Ola, Hero MotoCorp, VCs like Stellaris Venture Partners and Matrix Partners, and several others including the Aparmeya Radhakrishnan (founder, TaxiForSure) and more. The company, which was founded in 2016, lets people rent scooters for short one-way trips across the city. Using the app, you can find the latest scooter, unlock it and pick it up. To use the scooter you need to enter an OTP to access the key, and start your ride.

Vogo is active in Bengaluru and Hyderabad as of now, and plans to add over 1,000 pickup points across the two cities in the coming 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," said Anand Ayyadurai, Founder and CEO, Vogo. "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."

"We see this partnership with Ola as a great strategic fit, and aim to leverage their products, technology and operations infrastructure, to better suit our customers' needs," he added.

According to Vogo, trips average about 5 km per ride and make for an ideal first and last mile commute in Indian cities like Bengaluru, that are plagued by traffic congestion. Using the Vogo mobile app, more than 27000 users have commuted for over 6 million kilometres.

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. 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."

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.