Wheelstreet.in is a bike rental aggregator that works with independent vendors enabling them to offer personalised services including different pricing structures for the same bike, multiple pickup locations, a huge fleet of the latest bikes and real time availability on the platform. Team Estrade spoke to Moksha Srivastava – Co Founder, CMO and Spokesperson of Wheelstreet.
Moksha is first generation entrepreneur is in her early twenties and a bold risk taker. A native of Uttar Pradesh, she is a journalism graduate from IIMC, New Delhi. Prior to starting out at Wheelstreet.in, she was a reporter at Times of India, New Delhi and a Radio Jockey at 92.7 FM in Jhansi. She was also a volunteer with an NGO called BIF that works with schools in small towns where they teach young school kids. The hassles that she faced with a rented two – wheeler in Delhi and the entrepreneurial mindset of co-founder, Pranay Shrivastava who used to rent his personal bike to fellow students is what prompted them to start out with their own venture. An avid reader, her passion is singing and heading out for long road trips on her trusted Avenger.
Following are the excerpts of Moksha’s interview with Team Estrade.
Team Estrade: Tell us about Wheelstreet? About your products and services?
Moksha: We launched on 3 November, 2014 and are a bike rental aggregator that works with independent vendors. The portal enables them to offer personalized services including different pricing structures for the same bike, multiple pickup locations, a huge fleet of the latest bikes and real time availability on the platform. We did a fair amount of market research for around six months after we thought of the idea and then decided to go ahead with it after we were presented with data that backed the need for an organized two-wheeler rental marketplace. We initially began operations in Delhi as the first of its kind in India.
“Rentals are usually priced at a tenth of the cost of buying a commodity. ”
Team Estrade: What is your geographical range?
Moksha: Our headquarters are in Bangalore. We are currently operational in around 25 cities including; Pune, Delhi, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Kolkata, Darjeeling, Jaipur and Hyderabad and smaller cities like Srinagar, Nainital and Jaisalmer among others. We have tied up with over 160 vendors in these locations.
Team Estrade: What is the size of the market you are currently competing in, both in India and the world?
Moksha: There are over 40 cities in the country which has an unorganized two-wheeler rental marketplace. However, the demand and supply chain is still not synchronized with an utter lack of service standards, even in the larger cities which leads to hassles for both the vendors and the potential users. India is said to be one of the largest two-wheeler marketplaces in the world and it is no surprise, since motorcycles offer a much more affordable and efficient alternative to private cars, taxis and even public transport.
Team Estrade: How do you see WheelStreet’s growth vis-à-vis growth of the industry?
Moksha: Rentals are usually priced at a tenth of the cost of buying a commodity. There are multiple benefits to the sharing economy including; an on-demand access for products and services and a systematic consumption of unused inventory which can lead to micro – entrepreneurship, digital literacy and employment.
Team Estrade: Who is your competition in the bike renting space?
Moksha: Bike renting has existed in the country on an unorganized basis in the country for around the last thirty years. A number of players have entered this market in recent years and we consider each of them as our competition. We entered the market in 2014 and were the first in this space. In fact, our rates are still among the lowest in the market
Team Estrade: Purely in value terms, how are you differentiating yourself in the market from the local bike rental shops? The price points are varied across Indian cities.
Moksha: On an average, most bike rental shops have about 15 – 20 bikes that they can rent out to users. However, we have tied up with over 160 vendors which means that we have thousands of bikes to offer to our customers, including some of the top luxury vehicles available in the country. A qualified professional from the company also conducts rigorous checks on all the bikes and only those that pass the stringent checks are displayed on the website for customers to choose from. We also accept bookings even an hour prior to the pickup time and offer drop and pickup services from any location that the customer prefers. We provide refunds if the customer faced any issues because of negligence on our part and have a strong backend team that mans the customer service desk. Our deposit and renting rates are also lower than most of the local players and we even throw in goodies when a bike is rented. Also, since we have an asset light model we have more resources on hand to improve our technological capabilities and offer discounts to customers.
Team Estrade: What is your marketing strategy? For each product segment.
Moksha: We are increasing our presence on social media as a large chunk of our target customers comes from social media. We target people who are shifting to new cities for Jobs or business. Most of our target group includes working professionals and anyone above 20years of age. We put up a lot of creative graphics and promotions informing people about bike rentals. Recently we have also begun branding on auto rickshaws to increase the awareness. Tie-ups with MNC’s, hotels, restaurants is also getting us a lot of people on the platform.
“Rental commerce has truly developed as a market in the country in the last couple of years.”
Team Estrade: How do you convince the bike owners about the safety of their vehicles while renting? Are there any global players in this space?
Moksha: We are aggregators and work with vendors. The vendors on their part have their bikes insured in case a theft happens. Till date we have not faced any theft. In the case of any damage we take a small deposit (Rs. 999/-) from the customer to cover the damage. So, with bikes the repair and maintenance is very easy and at substantially low, unlike cars, which require heavy maintenance.
Team Estrade: Is the eco system in India ripe for companies like Wheelstreet?
Moksha: The renting economy has been gaining traction in the country for quite a while now, particularly among the younger generations. Rental commerce has truly developed as a market in the country in the last couple of years. Previously, it was mostly tourists who rented a bike but the whole scenario has changed with a number of people opting to rent a bike for short term use in the city that they live in. We also have a lot of customers who want to ride a particular model and use it in different terrains before they buy the vehicle.
Team Estrade: Tell us the latest about consumer and renter sentiment in this space, in terms of the latest data with you.
Moksha: Our target group includes working professionals and anyone above 20years of age. This group is open to the shared economy concept that is fast catching up. Millennials being the toast of the season are open to experimenting and trying out new concepts. According to a study conducted by CoLife a coworking and coliving service provider, India is the land of millennials and is positioned to be the youngest nation in the world with 200 Million Indians who are in the age group of 18 – 35, where digital access is becoming mobile-driven. 85% of the weekly internet millennial population in India now owns a smart phone. Out of this, 43% use social media daily or watch Videos online and 11% use mobile payment on weekly basis. Digital connectivity has become a priority for Millennials. Millennials expect to create a better future, using the collaborative power of digital technology. We cater to a similar segment of consumers largely.
“There is still a lack of trust for online rentals, since a large number of people prefer to see something prior to renting ”
Team Estrade: Which product segment is the highest revenue earner for your company? Which product/rental is the lowest ticket size? Which one is the highest?
Moksha: We track two sections. Daily commute where the average booking size goes up to 6200 and weekend trips section which we call WS explore. This section gives us an average booking of 40k-50k because the booking duration here is 14-15 days. Both the segments are different and do really well for us. We get hourly, daily, weekly and monthly bookings in commute section. Both are high revenue generator for us.
Team Estrade: What is the biggest challenge faced currently by Wheelstreet and your industry of operation?
Moksha: There is still a lack of trust for online rentals, since a large number of people prefer to see something prior to renting it. Many customers also demand an instant refund whereas it takes a takes a while to process it, since we need to check whether the vehicles have been damaged before we release the payment. Also, some potential customers expect us to flout the norms and provide vehicles to those below 21 or without a valid driving license. The “chalta hai” attitude still flourishes in the country and they often expect that we would be willing to give up our principles just to earn a little bit more.
Team Estrade: Who are your investors? What would you advise to other start-ups before they start scouting for investors?
Moksha: We recently received $500K (around INR 3.4 Cr.) in a funding round from Broadbean Capital services, an early-stage seed and Pre-Series A venture fund.
Team Estrade: What is your vision for WheelStreet, for:
i. Near term future, over the rest of 2017
Moksha: We are aiming to expand PAN India and have also started tours. We are now aggregating tours as well and have plans to rent out tour accessories like tents, gears, jackets tec. However we plan to expand ourselves only in the two wheeler segment.
ii. Long term, over the next 4 years or so.
Moksha: We plan to move abroad as there is a huge market in all south Asian countries as well.
“India is the land of millennials” – Moksha Srivastava – Co Founder, Wheelstreet.
