WheelStreet: Pranay Shrivastava on Y Combinator and Building India's Largest Bike Rental Portal
In 2014, while most college students were worrying about their final exams, Pranay Shrivastava was busy building the future of two-wheeler mobility in India. As the Co-founder of WheelStreet, Pranay took a personal pain point—the difficulty of renting a bike in a new city—and scaled it into India's largest bike rental portal. His journey, which included a stint at the prestigious Y Combinator in Silicon Valley, is a masterclass in identifying market gaps, building for the customer, and maintaining the grit needed to scale a venture over half a decade.
Pranay's entrepreneurial spark was ignited by the "mobility crisis" he saw around him. "In India, college students often don't have their own bikes, and tourists coming from abroad were still using JustDial or making phone calls to find rentals," Pranay recalls. Along with his co-founders Moksha Shrivastava and Ritwik, he launched WheelStreet from Delhi, focusing on a technology-first, asset-light model that could scale without the heavy burden of owning thousands of vehicles.
The Y Combinator Experience
In 2017, WheelStreet became part of Y Combinator (YC), the world's most renowned startup accelerator. "YC is like an MBA for people who actually want to build things," Pranay says. "It teaches you to 'make something people want' and gives you three months of intense focus to take your product from zero to something world-class. The smallest insights you get from the partners there can save you years of trial and error."
Building Trust in an Asset-Light Model
One of WheelStreet's biggest breakthroughs was disrupting the traditional "security deposit" model. "In 2014, if you wanted to rent a bike, you had to leave a ₹10,000 deposit. We were the first company to bring that down to zero," Pranay notes. By convincing vendors and leveraging technology to manage risk, WheelStreet made bike rentals accessible to the masses, resulting in "crazy revenues from day one."
Raising initial capital was surprisingly straightforward because of this early validation. "I was a 21-year-old fresh graduate when we got our first ₹10 lakh in angel investment," Pranay admits. "It happened because we were in an industry that was growing fast and we had the data to prove that people were booking bikes as fast as we could list them."
The Truth About 'Motivation'
Pranay is refreshingly honest about the emotional side of entrepreneurship. He believes that "uncertainty" in startups is a myth if you plan well. "There is no period where there is no motivation to go forward as a founder. When you start, you have a destination in mind. Until you reach there, you keep marching," he asserts. This relentless drive allowed him to navigate the daily challenges of recruiting, financial management, and marketing for five intense years.
Pranay's Advice for Aspiring Founders
- Start in College: Don't wait to graduate. Use your final year to experiment so that by the time placement season arrives, you already have your own company.
- Solve Your Own Problem: You should be your own first customer. If you face the pain point daily, you'll know exactly how to build the solution.
- Be Patient, but Know When to Stop: It takes 5 years to build a real business. But if your growth has completely stalled for 3 months, it's time to take a tough call or pivot.
- Hire for Discipline: Skills are great, but for a startup, you need people who are disciplined and serious about life. You need people who will solve problems as fast as they appear.
A New Chapter at Pankhuri
After five years at WheelStreet, Pranay transitioned into a new role as the Chief Strategy Officer at Pankhuri, a platform focused on women-centric social shopping and services. His vision continues to be centered on creating value and large-scale employment. "Personally, I want to create at least 3,000 to 5,000 employment opportunities. Every business that scales is essentially an engine for job creation and societal value," he explains.
WheelStreet Milestones
- Leadership: Scaled to become India's largest bike rental portal.
- Innovation: First to introduce zero-security-deposit bike rentals.
- Validation: Part of the YC S17 batch, receiving global mentorship and networking.
About the Guest
Pranay Shrivastava is the Founder of WheelStreet and the Chief Strategy Officer at Pankhuri. A native of Bhopal and a biker at heart, Pranay has been an entrepreneur since his school days, starting a consultancy in the 11th grade. He is a recognized figure in the Indian startup ecosystem and a Y Combinator alumnus. Pranay is dedicated to using technology to solve large-scale mobility and commerce problems and is a frequent mentor for young founders looking to break into the tech space.
WheelStreet is a technology platform that connects bike rental vendors with users across India. By standardizing the booking experience and removing financial barriers like heavy deposits, WheelStreet revolutionized the two-wheeler rental market, making it easy for tourists and commuters to access mobility on demand.