Ride-hailing unicorn Rapido is reportedly set to raise $60 Mn (INR 503 Cr) from Dutch investment major Prosus in a mix of primary and secondary share sales.

Sources told Entrackr that the terms of the deal have already been finalised, adding that the fundraise will be part of the mobility giant’s ongoing $200 Mn round.

“Prosus will acquire a $60 Mn stake in Rapido. The terms of the deal have been finalized, and it will also enable partial exits for early backers,” a source reportedly said. 

Another person familiar with the development reportedly said that the $60 Mn round will mark the conclusion of Rapido’s Series E round. As per the report, sources also hinted that there will be no change in the company’s valuation. 

This comes a month after Rapido officially announced that it secured $200 Mn as part of its Series E round led by existing investor WestBridge Capital. The fundraise catapulted the company into the unicorn club with a valuation of $1.1 Bn.

Founded in 2015 by Rishikesh SR, Pavan Guntupalli, and Aravind Sanka, Rapido allows users to book bike taxis and autos. It also launched its cab service in some cities in December last year. Besides, it also offers peer-to-peer delivery services via Rapido Local. 

Backed by the likes of foodtech major Swiggy, TVS Motor Company, Shell Ventures and others, the startup has raised more than $625.75 Mn to date. 

On the financial front, Rapido reported a net loss of INR 674.5 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23), up 50% YoY. Meanwhile, operating revenue jumped to INR 443 Cr in the fiscal against INR 144.8 Cr in FY22.

The development comes at a time when Prosus has been doubling down on its India investments. Just days ago, reports surfaced that the investment giant was looking to pump $30 Mn into the hyperlocal services startup Urban Company in a secondary deal, giving a partial exit to Bessemer Venture Partners.

In August, Prosus participated in omnichannel jewellery brand Bluestone’s INR 900 Cr pre-IPO round and invested INR 350 Cr in the company. The investor is also expecting a windfall from foodtech major Swiggy’s IPO, where it plans to sell 11.8 Cr shares as part of the OFS component.

The post Rapido To Get Another Tank Full Of Investments, Likely To Raise $60 Mn From Prosus appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In an effort to fuel its two wheeler rides, Uber has joined hands with IPO-bound logistics services provider Shadowfax to integrate the latters’ two wheeler fleet with the ride-hailing majors’ UberMoto bike taxi offering.

The riders who drive for Shadowfax will now be able to switch during less hours of work and provide bike-taxi services for UberMoto.

The move will further allow Uber to bolster its bike taxi services with additional two wheelers and launch operations in towns where Shadowfax is present.

“This partnership with a third party logistics provider will materially unlock the supply of two wheelers on Uber while creating additional earning opportunities for drivers on the Shadowfax platform,” Arnab Kumar, director of business development, Uber India and South Asia said in a statement.

“This integration is in line with our ambition to truly become the operating system for multiple form factors and we are incredibly excited about the potential of this partnership for Uber Moto’s growth,” Kumar added.

This development comes weeks after Uber announced the relaunch of its high-end Uber Black service in India, starting with Mumbai, after a gap of almost a decade.

The competition amid ride hailing service providers is getting stronger with new players entering the industry with unique offerings to broaden its customer base. 

For instance, a few weeks ago, Bengaluru-based unicorn Rapido was reportedly looking to place a bet on fully electrifying its bike taxi fleet in Delhi by next year.

Meanwhile, in late August, ride hailing startup Namma Yatri was also in initial talks with multiple American taxi unions to foray into the US cab market to compete with platforms such as Lyft and Uber, as per reports.

Founded in 2015 by Vaibhav Khandelwal and Abhishek Bansal, Shadowfax provides hyper-local and on-demand deliveries to businesses. Notably, the startup works with ecommerce platforms like Flipkart and Meesho. 

Praharsh Chandra, cofounder and chief business officer at Shadowfax said, “At Shadowfax, we are committed to driving innovation and adding value for our drivers and delivery partners. Our ‘One app, all opportunities’ platform will empower our partners to tap into new streams of income, whether through last-mile deliveries or mobility solutions like UberMoto.”

Additionally, Shadowfax is reportedly planning to raise INR 2,500 – 3,000 Cr through an IPO at a valuation of INR 5,000 – 8,000 Cr.

Updated at 02:38 PM

The post Uber Joins Hands With IPO-Bound Shadowfax To Fuel Bike Taxi Offering appeared first on Inc42 Media.

With sustainability becoming one of the top priorities for countries and businesses alike, the narrative around increasing the usage of electric vehicles (EVs) has taken centre stage in the past few years. Though the electrification of vehicles started a bit late in India compared to some European countries, the US, China, and Japan, the country’s EV adoption has grown exponentially on the back of more startups joining the segment and government policies.

Many Indian EV startups such as Ather Energy, Altigreen, BluSmart, and Exponent Energy have now come up with sustainable solutions for mobility. The Indian EV market houses various small as well as large EV startups and is estimated to reach $110.74 Bn by 2029.

Indian EV startups offer services such as sustainable mobility, energy infrastructure, commercial mobility and battery management system, among others, to the general masses and enterprises. Besides, they are also helping reduce carbon emissions and offering a cheaper alternative to fossil fuels.

To push the adoption of EVs in the country, the Centre introduced the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME-India) in 2013. Its first phase, FAME-I, commenced in 2015. The next phase, FAME-II, came into effect in April 2019 with an outlay of INR 10,000 Cr. It concluded in March 2024.

After the FAME-II fiasco in 2023 and a tug-of-war between several EV OEMs and the government over the violation of localisation norms, there were doubts and debates around the Centre announcing a new EV scheme.

However, with FAME-II ending, the Centre launched the Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS) with an allocation of INR 500 Cr as a stop-gap measure. In September 2024, the union cabinet approved the ‘PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) Scheme’ with an outlay of INR 10,900 Cr for a period of two years.

Let’s take a look at some of the Indian startups that are helping keep the earth healthy and green through their technology and products. The list below is not meant to be a ranking of any kind. The Indian EV brands have been listed in alphabetical order.

Startups In The EV Segment 

1. 3EV Industries

• Founded In: 2019
• Founders: Peter Hartmut Voelkner, Suman K. Mishra
• Funding Raised To Date: $2 Mn
• Investors: Credence Family Office
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

3EV Industries was founded in association between RUGGED Solar Products Pvt Ltd and ReBatt Limited in 2019. It offers last-mile hyper-local connectivity to customers across India. 

In November 2021, 3EV Industries raised $2 Mn in its seed funding round from several family offices including Credence Family Office. The startup originally aligns with the Indian government’s ‘Make in India’ ambitions.

It manufactures vehicles across cargo and passenger segments, along with kits to convert conventional vehicles to electric. It aims to use renewable energy and off-grid power systems to optimise last-mile logistics. 

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2. Altigreen Propulsion Labs

• Founded In: 2013
• Founders: Amitabh Saran, Shalendra Gupta 
• Funding Raised To Date: $40 Mn 
• Investors: Reliance New Energy Limited, Xponentia Capital, Accurant International and Momentum Venture Capital
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

Altigreen offers last-mile transportation through two-wheeler, three-wheeler and four-wheeler EVs for commercial use.

In February 2022, Altigreen raised INR 300 Cr ($40 Mn) in a Series A funding round led by Sixth Sense Ventures. The round saw participation from Reliance New Energy Limited (RNEL), Xponentia Capital, Accurant International and Momentum Venture Capital.

The startup has a presence in 60 countries, along with 26 global patents. It had a turnover of INR 1.04  Cr in FY21 against INR 61.62 lakh in FY20.

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3. AMO Mobility

• Founded In: 2018
• Founders: Sushant Kumar
• Funding Raised To Date: Bootstrapped
• Investors: NA
• Headquarters: Noida

AMO Mobility is an MSME-registered and ICAT-certified electric mobility startup. It is also certified by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). 

The original equipment manufacturer follows a business model for both B2C and B2B customers. Besides selling its electric two-wheelers through dealerships, AMO also has partnerships with OEMs, sub-dealerships, channel partners, and B2C partners to distribute its products. 

Some of its most noteworthy B2B partnerships include JustDial, Indiamart, the ecommerce platform of Paytm, and BikeDekho.

Recently, AMO Mobility signed a pact with EV-as-a -service platform, Trigo Electric, to provide its advanced electric mobility solutions to the company.

AMO Mobility has a range of escooter models, including Jaunty, Feisty, and Inspirer. Its customer base comprises corporates, ecommerce players, and CSR segments.

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4. Ather Energy

• Founded In: 2013
• Founders: Tarun Mehta, Swapnil Jain
• Funding Raised To Date: $500 Mn+
• Investors: Hero Motocorp, Department of Science and Technology, IIT Madras, Binny Bansal, Sachin Bansal, Tiger Global, NIIF Limited
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

Ather Energy is one of the leading Indian two-wheeler EV manufacturers. It also manufactures its own battery packs and operates its own charging network.

After building its market on its 450 series of escooters, which comprises Ather 450S, Ather 450X, and Ather 450 Apex, the startup launched a family escooter series Rizta and also forayed into the smart helmet category.

In May, Ather secured $128 Mn in its Series E funding round from sovereign fund NIIF Limited and existing investor Hero MotoCorp. With this round, it also closed its Series E round. In September 2023, it raised INR 900 Cr from existing shareholders Hero MotoCorp and GIC through a rights issue.

In August 2024, it also joined the unicorn club by raising $71 Mn from existing investor National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) at a post-money valuation of  $1.3 Bn.

Ather has also filed its DRHP for an INR 3,100 Cr+ IPO in September 2024.

Its operating revenue declined 1.5% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 1,753.8 Cr in FY24, while net loss widened over 22% to INR 1,059.7 Cr.

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5. Baaz Bikes

• Founded In: 2019
• Founders: Karan Singla, Abhijeet Saxena, Shubham Srivastava 
• Funding Raised To Date: $10.3 Mn
• Investors: BIG Capital, Kalaari Capital, AdvantEdge, 9Unicorns, Sumant Sinha
• Headquarters: New Delhi

Baaz Bikes, a subsidiary of ElecTorq Technologies, offers micro-mobility solutions to gig workers. It helps gig workers earn money by using its electric scooters for deliveries for companies such as Zomato, Amazon and Grofers.

Baaz Bikes raised $2 Mn in Pre-Series A funding round from Kalaari Capital along with the participation of AdvantEdge, 9Unicorns and Renew Power’s Sumant Sinha. In November 2023, the EV startup raised $8 Mn in its Series A funding round.

Baaz Bikes has built a full stack EV ecosystem that provides the delivery executives of companies, including Zomato, Zepto, and Amazon, access to its low-speed ebikes (Baaz Bikes) as well as battery swapping stations (Baaz Swap) under a subscription model.

With more than 500 vehicles on the road, the startup claims to earn around INR 5,000 per month from each delivery executive.

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6. Battery Smart

• Founded In: 2019
• Founders: Pulkit Khurana and Siddharth Sikka
• Funding Raised To Date: $65 Mn
• Investors: Blume Ventures, Orios Ventures, Green Frontier Capital, TradeCred, Baring Private Equity India, Srinivas Anumolu, K Ganesh, Niraj Singh, Amit Bhasin  
• Headquarters: New Delhi

Battery Smart allows customers to swap their EV batteries at its stations, called Swap Stations. It currently offers its services to e-rickshaw owners. 

Battery Smart claims to operate more than 850 Swap Stations across Delhi-NCR and says it has completed more than 220 lakh battery swaps. Currently, it has 35,000 active vehicles on its platform and makes 80,000 swaps on a daily basis as of November 2023.

In November 2021, Battery Smart raised $7 Mn in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Blume Ventures and Orios Ventures. The round saw participation from investors including Green Frontier Capital, TradeCred, Baring Private Equity India, and angel investors such as Bluestone’s Srinivas Anumolu, and GrowthStory.in’s K Ganesh, Spinny’s Niraj Singh and GoMechanic’s Amit Bhasin.

Prior to this, Battery Smart raised an undisclosed amount of investment in a seed funding round from Orios Venture Partners in February 2021. The startup has further raised $25 Mn in its Series A round in June 2022 led by Tiger Global, Blume Ventures and Orios Ventures and two debt rounds from Stride Ventures and BlackSoil.

In its pre-series B funding round in July of 2023, Battery Smart raised $33 Mn led by investors Tiger Global and Blume Ventures, with participation from the Ecosystem Integrity Fund and British International Investment.

Battery Smart claims to have live swap stations across 27 cities and it works with 35,500 vehicles.

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7. BGauss

• Founded In: 2020
• Founders: Hemant Kabra
• Funding Raised To Date: $7 Mn
• Investors: Darshan Patel
• Headquarters:  Mumbai

BGauss, which is promoted by RR Global, offers sustainable mobility solutions. The startup manufactures two EVs – BGauss B8 and BGauss A2 – which are sold on its website as well as in offline stores. It is currently expanding its product portfolio by launching two new EV scooters in 2022. 

According to an Inc42 report, BGauss’ new EV scooter D15 will be launched in May 2022, while the other scooter will be launched later this year. The startup claims that these scooters will be 100% ‘Made in India’ at its production facility located in Chakan near Pune.

Recently, the EV startup got $7 Mn in funding from Vini Cosmetics’ Darshan Patel to expand retail and manufacturing capacity in India, perform R&D and develop in-house products across various EV components. It claims to have 100 dealer networks across India and is planning to enter Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities by the end of 2022. It is further looking to scale up operations and focus on the export market.

As per its website, it has a presence in more than 85 countries. It also has 13 manufacturing facilities and over 25K retail stores. ______________________________________________________________________________________________

8. BLive

• Founded In: 2018
• Founders: Samarth Kholkar, Sandeep Mukherjee
• Funding Raised To Date: Approximately $3 Mn
• Investors: LetsVenture, Mumbai Angels, Ankit Agrawal
• Headquarters: Goa

BLive is a multi-brand EV store that offers a wide range of EV products and services on its digital platform as well as in retail stores. It’s a one-stop shop for EV products and solutions.

BLive’s EV Store features a lineup of electric two-wheelers from brands like TVS, Ola, and Ather. In August 2023, the startup collaborated with electric bike manufacturer Revolt Motors to support its sales, service and spares pan India.

BLive also offers customised EV financing solutions.

Recently, the startup expanded its collaboration with Zomato to deploy escooters for last-mile deliveries in more southern cities, including Bengaluru. As part of the partnership, the startup is deploying TVS iQube scooters for Zomato’s last-mile deliveries.

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9. BluSmart 

• Founded In: 2019
• Founders: Anmol Singh Jaggi, Punit K Goyal
• Funding Raised To Date: $110 Mn+
• Investors: Stride Ventures, Alteria Capital, BlackSoil, UCIC, BP Ventures, Green Frontier Capital, Mayfield India Fund, 9Unicorns, Suvan Partners,  Mumbai Angels, Inflection Point Ventures, Venture Catalysts
• Headquarters: Gurugram

BluSmart offers electric ride-hailing mobility services through its mobile-based app. It primarily provides sustainable mobility solutions to urban customers.

In May 2022, BluSmart secured $25 Mn through equity and debt financing in its Series A funding round. Investors who participated in the round include BP Ventures, Green Frontier Capital, Stride Ventures, Alteria Capital, BlackSoil and UCIC. It raised over $66 Mn in two rounds in 2023. 

BluSmart claims to have completed over 10 Mn rides so far. It also owned and operated over 4,000 EV chargers, across its 34 EV charging superhubs as of 2023 end. The startup is looking to raise around INR 200 Cr in a pre-Series B funding round.

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10. BOLT

• Founded: 2017
• Founders: Jyotiranjan Harichandan and Mohit Yadav
• Funding Raised To Date: $4 Mn 
• Investors: ITI Growth Opportunities Fund, SUN Mobility, Union Square Ventures, Prime Venture Partners
• Headquarters: Bengaluru 

BOLT, previously known as REVOS, is an AI-based IoT platform that helps people operate EVs. It essentially tracks and monitors motor controllers as well as batteries on the platform. 

In September 2021, BOLT raised $4 Mn in its Series A round led by Union Square Ventures (USV) and Prime Venture Partners. It claims to have sold about 1,000 devices, including EVs and chargers in 30 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), across India, China, Nepal, Egypt and Vietnam to date. The startup claims it has installed 10,000 EV charging stations in India in the past six months. 

BOLT is reportedly aiming to deploy 100K charging stations in the coming six months to meet the demand in cities like Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Nagpur, Nashik, Chandigarh, Surat, and Bhubaneswar, among others.

Recently, BOLT also partnered with the Delhi Capitals cricket team for the IPL.

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11. Bounce

• Founded In: 2014
• Founders: Anil G, Varun Agni, Vivekananda Halleker
• Funding Raised To Date: $214 Mn
• Investors: Peak XV, Accel Partners, B Capital Group, Chiratae Ventures

Initially, Bounce started its operations as a bike/scooter rental platform. In 2022, it pivoted to become an escooter manufacturer. 

Currently, Bounce manufactures and sells Bounce Inifinity escooters. It also gives its escooters on rent.

The EV maker currently has three escooter variants – E.1, E.1 LE, and E.1+ – with their prices ranging from INR 1.09 Lakh to INR 1.12 Lakh.

Bounce last raised $105 Mn in 2020 from Accel Partners and B Capital Group. The company is trying to raise more funding.

In FY23, its net loss narrowed 19% YoY to INR 197 Cr and operating revenue jumped 510% to INR 90.9 Cr.

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12. Cell Propulsion

• Founded In: 2017
• Founders: Nakul Kukar, Paras Kaushal, Supratim Naskar
• Funding Raised To Date: $4 Mn
• Investors: growX ventures, Micelio, Endiya Partners, CIIE.CO, Sangam Ventures
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

Cell Propulsion offers sustainable mobility solutions and charging infrastructure. The startup develops high-voltage powertrains technology for commercial vehicle applications. Besides this, it manufactures electric commercial vehicles – Oryx Electric and Beluga Electric. While Oryx Electric is available for sale, Beluga Electric has not been officially launched yet by the startup. 

As per its website, GrowX Ventures, Endiya, Micelio and CIIE.CO and Sangam Ventures are among its investors. It has covered over 200K emission-free distance and onboarded five fleets to date. It is currently managing over 10 fast-charging stations.

In 2021, it reportedly secured $2 Mn of funding from a cohort of private equity investors including Endiya Partners, GrowX Ventures, Huddle Accelerator and Micelio. Prior to this, it raised $1 Mn in a pre-Series A funding round in September 2020. 

In 2019, it was also a part of Huddle and growX Ventures’ EV accelerator program.

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13. CHARGE+ZONE

• Founded In: 2018
• Founders: Kartikey Hariyani and Pavan Bakeri
• Funding Raised To Date: $17 Mn
• Investors: Venture Catalysts, Mumbai Angels, Keiretsu Forum, Ramakrishnan Family Office
• Headquarters: Gujarat

CHARGE+ZONE offers an OEM charging network through its app-based charging stations. Its app provides an array of services to EV drivers, such as finding charging points, and booking them in advance. 

In December 2021, CHARGE+ZONE raised $10 Mn in a bridge funding round led by Venture Catalysts. Prior to this, it raised $4 Mn in the same round. CHARGE+ZONE currently aims to raise another $50 Mn in a Series A funding round in 2022. 

In November 2021, CHARGE+ZONE raised $3 Mn in a Pre-Series funding A round led by Venture Catalysts. The round saw participation from Mumbai Angels, Keiretsu Forum and Ramakrishnan Family Office. Earlier in May 2021, it raised an undisclosed amount from Mumbai Angels. 

CHARGE+ZONE is reported to have started the distribution of AC-Type2 EV charging networks and intercity fast DC charging networks for 1,500 new points over the next 150 days.

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14. Chargeup

• Founded In: 2019
• Founders: Varun Goenka and Ankur Madan
• Funding Raised To Date: $2.5 Mn
• Investors:  Capital A, Anicut Capital, MapmyIndia,  Sameer Mehta, Aman Gupta, Tiger Shroff, Shraddha Kapoor  
• Headquarters: New Delhi

Chargeup offers battery swapping services for three-wheeler EVs in India. 

In February 2022, Chargeup reportedly raised $2.5 Mn in Pre-Series A funding round led by Capital A and Anicut Capita. 

The round also saw participation from angel investors including boAt’s Sameer Mehta, Aman Gupta, Tiger Shroff and Shraddha Kapoor. The startup claims to have expanded to 100 stations and onboarded 800 drivers on its platform. It further says that it has 100 dealers working with the platform.

As per its website, Chargeup has an AI and ML-based platform that provides services such as subscription-based usage, delivers 5,000 MwHr, forecasts demand hotspots, predicts energy demand, and operates 10K charging stations. The startup claims to have 800 satisfied users and 100 dealers associated with it. It also aims to power 1 Mn EVs by 2027.

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15. Clean Electric

• Founded In: 2020
• Founders: Akash Gupta, Abhinav Roy, Ankit Joshi 
• Funding Raised To Date: $8.2 Mn
• Investors: Info Edge Ventures, pi Ventures, Kalaari Capital 

Pune-based Clean Electric is developing batteries for two- and three-wheeler EVs that can be charged rapidly in under 12 minutes. 

It uses nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells to build its batteries that have the potential to solve one of the major bottlenecks in EV adoption globally – high charging time.

Clean Electric promises to have designed EV batteries that can deliver consistent performance across all public charging stations.

After raising $2.2 Mn in a seed funding round led by Kalaari Capital in 2022, the startup raised another $6 Mn in its Series A funding round co-led by Info Edge Ventures, pi Ventures, and Kalaari. 

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16. Corrit Electric

• Founded In: 2020
• Founders: Mayur Misra
• Funding Raised To Date: $9 Mn 
• Investors: SphitiCap
• Headquarters: Noida

Corrit Electric offers sustainable mobility solutions to consumers and B2B customers. It sells three electric bikes – Hover 1.0, Hover 2.0 and Hover 2.0+. The company has recently launched an electric bike, Transit, for B2B deliveries. It has a top speed of 70 kmph and payload capacity of 200 Kg. 

In November 2022, it secured $9 Mn in funding from venture capital fund SphitiCap to ramp up its production facility and manufacture electric bikes to resolve issues related to last-mile connectivity.

Earlier, it had shared plans to build 1.5 Lakh electric bikes in the next three years.

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17. eee-Taxi 

• Founded In: 2015
• Founders: Vipul Nanda, Nishant Saini
• Funding Raised To Date: NA
• Investors: NA

eee-Taxi is a tech-enabled platform offering EV ride-hailing management solutions working in a B2B model. It helps businesses reduce their employee logistics costs while also promoting the use and adoption of EVs.

The company develops modules including employee dashboards, employee applications, budget tracking, and others. The EV company also offers airport transfers, self-drive, and spot rentals.

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18. ElectricPe

• Founded In: 2021
• Founders: Avinash Sharma, Raghav Rohila
• Funding Raised To Date: $8 Mn
• Investors: Blume Ventures, Micelio Fund, Anshuman Bapna, Anupam Mittal, Arjun Ravi Sheth, Ashish Goel, Bhuvan Gupta, Green Frontier Capital, NB Ventures, Anchorage Capital Partners, Supermorpheus, and Climate Angels
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

ElectricPe offers charging infrastructure to customers. Through its app, EV owners can locate charging stations near them.

In November 2021, ElectricPe raised $3 Mn in a seed funding round led by Blume Ventures and Micelio Fund. The round saw participation from Terra.do’s Anshuman Bapna, Shaadi.com’s Anupam Mittal, Anchorage Capital’s Arjun Ravi Sheth, Urban Ladder’s Ashish Goel, and OfBusiness’ Bhuvan Gupta, among others.

Recently, Hero Electric partnered with ElectricPe to set up charging points pan-India for its customers. The charging infrastructure would be built in residential complexes, offices, malls, and other establishments. The partnership aims to strengthen the charging network and support EV adoption across India.

Prior to this, NoBroker had also partnered with ElectricPe to set up 1 Lakh electric charging stations in residential communities across India in 2022.

In January 2022, ElectricPe raised $5 Mn in its pre-series A round led by Green Frontier Capital, Blume Ventures and Micelio Fund, with participation from NB Ventures, Anchorage Capital Partners, Supermorpheus and Climate Angels.

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19. Electrifi Mobility

• Founded In: 2023
• Founders: Kunal Mundra and Nikhil Aggarwal
• Funding Raised To Date: NA
• Investors: NA
• Headquarters: Delhi-NCR

Founded in 2023 by former Cars24 CEO Kunal Mundra, Electrifi Mobility is a full-stack EV leasing startup. It offers an end-to-end asset management solution covering asset selection, leasing, maintenance, post-sales support, refurbishment, and redeployment of EV assets. 

The startup is built in partnership with Grip Invest and its founder and CEO Nikhil Aggarwal. In just a few months of its operations, Electrifi announced multiple partnerships and developments.

In December, BluSmart and Electrifi Mobility partnered to deploy over 1,000 four-wheeler EVs.

Recently, the startup also announced the opening of Electrifi Labs, where detailed testing of EVs and batteries will be conducted so that they can be rebuilt from scratch or refurbished as required.

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20. Emflux Motors 

• Founded In: 2016
• Founders: Ankit Khatry, Varun Mittal, Vinay Raj Somashekar
• Funding Raised To Date: $648K
• Investors: Meher Roy, Nikhil Arora, Meet Kanodia, Krit Sankalp, Nitish Singh and Risabh Gupta
• Headquarters: Bengaluru 

Emflux Motors offers sustainable mobility solutions and other tech solutions for EVs. It sells an electronic bike Emflux One that has a maximum speed of 200 kmph and can cover up to 200 km on a single charge. Besides this, it sells technology stack such as battery management system, motors, motor controller, charger circuit, EVSE, master controller, and battery pack. 

In 2017, Emflux Motors raised $648K in an angel funding round. The round saw participation from Meher Roy, Nikhil Arora, Meet Kanodia, Krit Sankalp, Jugnoo’s Nitish Singh, and Risabh Gupta.

The EV startup aims to create 10 Mn two-wheeler EVs in India by 2027. It primarily focuses on building brand and loyalty by creating high-performance electric vehicles.  It also plans to build an ecosystem of partner OEMs and become their tech and component supplier. 

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21. EMO Energy

• Founded In: 2022
• Founders: Sheetanshu Tyagi and Rahul Patel
• Funding Raised To Date: $1.5 Mn
• Investors: Transition VC, Gruhas
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

With its integrated tech stack for two- and three-wheeler EVs and heavy-duty vehicles, deeptech startup EMO Energy is addressing two challenges adversely affecting EV adoption in India – safety and charging efficiency. 

The startup calls its technology platform ZEN, which comes with different applications such as ZEN PAC (swappable battery packs for two- and three-wheelers), ZEN Ctrl. (battery management system and connected software), ZEN Rig (battery packs for heavy-duty vehicles), and ZEN Wall (fully integrated battery inverter system for residential and light commercial use).

EMO Energy has successfully conducted pilot programmes with nearly 10 electric vehicle (EV) companies in the country, deploying approximately 100 batteries to date. The startup is rapidly expanding its network of partnerships. While most of its offerings are still in the pilot phase, EMO Energy has already started generating revenue by selling its battery packs, ranging from 2 kWh to 3 kWh, for two- and three-wheelers.

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22. EMotorad

• Founded In: 2020
• Founders: Rajib Gangopadhyay, Kunal Gupta, Aditya Oza, Sumedh Battewar
• Funding Raised To Date: $23.2 Mn
• Investor: Basant Lohia from TaraSafe, Green Frontier Capital, LetsVenture, Ivy Growth associates, Panthera Growth Partners, Mahendra Singh Dhoni  
• Headquarters: Pune
• EMotorad sells electric cycles for daily commuting and casual rides. The startup uses local sourcing and manufacturing facilities in India to build electric cycles.

In October 2022, the Pune-based startup secured $2.9 Mn (INR 24 Cr) in its Pre-Series A funding round. During that time, it asserted that it sold more than 16K electric cycles in India since its inception. In November 2023, EMotorad raised $20 Mn (INR 166.8 Cr) as a part of its Series B funding round led by Panthera Growth Partners.

In early 2024, EMotorad also roped in former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni as an equity investor.

Its cap table also includes Green Frontier Capital (GFC), LetsVenture, Alteria Capital, Ivy Growth associates and Basant Lohia from TaraSafe. 

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23. ETrio 

• Founded In: 2016
• Founders: Sathya Yalamanchili, Deepak M V 
• Funding Raised To Date: $3 Mn
• Investor: Janardhan Rao
• Headquarters: Hyderabad

Etrio offers commercial and non-commercial electricity mobility solutions. Its product portfolio includes electric kits, retrofitted electric light commercial vehicles (eLCVs), a three-wheeler EV named Touro, and two bicycles – Ashva and iSwitch. eLCVs have been launched to transform and electrify the logistics segment, while bicycles were launched to meet the demands of cargo and personal segments. 

In 2020, ETrio raised $3 Mn in a Series A funding round led by Triumph Global’s Janardhan Rao. The round saw participation from a cohort of Singapore-based HNIs. 

As per its website, ETrio has partnered with various companies including Amazon, BigBasket, Flipkart, DIAGEO, Lightning Logistics, Amplus Solar, and ZYPP Electric. 

It has also received certifications from various government bodies such as ARAI, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, and the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, among others. 

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24. Euler Motors

• Founded In: 2018
• Founders:  Saurav Kumar
• Funding Raised To Date:  $100 Mn+ 
• Investors: Blume Venture, Emergent Ventures, Andrew Lee, Inventus India, Jetty Ventures, Srinivas Anumolu, K Ganesh, Sujeet Kumar, QRG Investments and Holdings, ADB Ventures,
• Headquarters: New Delhi 

Euler Motors offers commercial electrical mobility solutions through three-wheeler EVs, energy infrastructure, app and web-based software solutions. Its three-wheeler EV, Euler HiLoad, has the capacity to hold up to 688 Kg. The company claims it can get charged in 15 minutes and cover a distance of 151 Km on a single charge.

In the charging infra, the EV startup offers three types of chargers – Flash2, onboard charger, and Charge on Wheels. In the software segment, its app provides an array of services such as real-time GPS tracking, learning analytics, geo-fencing, and battery temperature, among others. 

In October 2022, Euler Motors raised about $60 Mn in its Series C round led by Singapore’s sovereign fund GIC. In November 2023, the startup raised about $14.4 Mn in its ongoing Series C extension round from British International Investment (BII) and Green Frontier Capital.  Existing investors, including ADB Ventures, Blume Ventures, Athera Venture Partners, Alteria Capital, GIC Singapore, and QRG Holdings, also participated in the round.

In early 2024, the startup concluded its Series C funding round by raising an additional $24 Mn.

It claims to have supplied more than 250 three-wheeler EVs to various companies including Ecom Express, BigBasket and Udaan.

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25. EVage

• Founded In: 2014
• Founders: Inderveer Singh, Pulkit Srivastava, Harnoor Kaur
• Funding Raised To Date: $28 Mn
• Investors: RedBlue Capital
• Headquarters: Chandigarh

EVage offers commercial solutions for sustainable mobility. It plans to supply electric commercial vehicles to the delivery fleets of logistics companies. 

Recently, Evage raised $28 Mn in a seed funding round from RedBlue Capital. Its first model, X, is a one-tonne truck built for the commercial delivery market.

The startup claims to be the supplier to Amazon India’s delivery partners. 

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26. Evera

• Founded In: 2019
• Founders: Nimish Trivedi, Vikas Bansal, Rajeev Tiwari
• Funding Raised To Date: $7 Mn
• Investors: Westova Capital, Devonshire Capital, IEG – Investment Banking Group
• Headquarters: New Delhi

Evera is a New Delhi-based electric cab services provider that operates in both B2B and B2C verticals. Founded in 2019, the startup claims to have taken more than 40,000 rides, with a network of 43 charging stations in the national capital region. Its parent entity is Prakriti E-Mobility.

Unlike many ride-hailing companies, Evera employs full-time drivers rather than working with gig workers. The startup says the drivers can’t cancel rides since they’re paid by the startup.

In early 2023, Evera raised $7 Mn in multiple tranches as part of its Pre-Series A funding round, led by IEG Investment Banking Group, Direct Capital, and Westova Global.

Evera competes directly with BluSmart, which raised $42 Mn in May 2023.

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27. Exponent Energy

• Founded In: 2020 
• Founders: Arun Vinayak, Sanjay Byalal
• Funding Raised To Date: $18 Mn 
• Investors: YourNest VC, 3one4 Capital, AdvantEdge VC, Motherson Group, Rajesh Yabaji, Pushkar Singh
• Headquarters: Bengaluru 

Exponent Energy offers energy solutions to EV owners. The startup claims that its lithium-ion battery and charger combo can charge EVs up to 100% within 15 minutes.  

In December 2021, the EV startup raised $5 Mn in a Pre Series A funding round led by existing investor YourNest VC. The round saw participation from other investors including 3one4 Capital, AdvantEdge VC and Motherson Group. 

As per an Inc42 report, it also raised an undisclosed investment in September 2021 from investors including YourNest, 3one4 Capital, AdvantEdge, BlackBuck’s Rajesh Yabaji, and LetsTransport’s Pushkar Singh among others.

Before launching Exponent Energy, its cofounder Arun Vinayak worked with Ather Energy for seven years, while the other cofounder Sanjay Byalal had earlier worked with Ather Energy as well as HUL.

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28. Finayo

• Founded In: 2020
• Founders: Brajendra Singh Tomar and Yogesh Prakash
• Funding Raised To Date: ~$2 Mn
• Investors: F Mec International Financial Services Limited, Choice Finserv
• Headquarters: Delhi NCR

Finayo is an EV financing startup that connects its lending partners with customers of EV retailers and OEMs through its AI-powered platform.

With a dedicated web dashboard for its lending partners, the platform allows them to see and manage borrower profiles and automate loan processing end-to-end. 

For EV borrower-facing entities, the startup provides a dashboard and mobile application for their executives to process loan applications and generate real-time loan offers for customers with multiple lenders. 

In December 2023, Finayo raised INR 16 Cr (approximately $1.9 Mn) in a mix of debt and equity funding from NBFCs and angel investor Manish Mehta.

Till November 2023, the EV lending startup had disbursed INR 20 Cr. In the forthcoming fiscal year, it plans to disburse INR 100 Cr with 60-70% of funds to be disbursed in the advancement of three-wheeler L3 and L5 EVs.

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29. Fresh Bus

• Founded In: 2022
• Founders: Sudhakar Reddy Chirra
• Funding Raised To Date: 8 Mn+
• Investors: ixigo, Kunal Shah, Sudarshan Venu, Deepak Garg
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

Founded by former AbhiBus founder Sudhakar Reddy Chirra, Fresh Bus is an electric bus (ebus) platform that operates in the intercity bus travel market.

The startup, backed by traveltech major ixigo, launched its ebus service in early 2023 by unveiling its first route between Bengaluru and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. Currently, the bus service is also functional on the Hyderabad-Vijaywada route while the startup plans to start its intercity ebus service on newer routes like Bengaluru-Chennai, Mumbai-Ahmedabad, and Goa-Pune.

Fleet operator Fresh Bus has collaborated with EV manufacturer Olectra to procure its buses. 

In the growing ebus market, Fresh Bus competes with NueGo, Zingbus, and other major intercity bus platforms in the market. The startup has also built its own charging station network. In July 2024, Fresh Bus raised about $5.3 Mn as part of its Series A funding round.

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30. Fyn Mobility

• Founded In: 2013
• Founders: Visakh Sasikumar
• Funding Raised To Date: $2.4 Mn 
• Investors: Eagle10 Ventures, Bluehill Capital, Sattva Group, Nanavati family, Sincere Syndication, Conscience Multi-Family Office, GAIL (India) Ltd,  Arshad Sayyad, Vijay Ratnaparke, Shaji Koshy and IITM Research Park’s Ashok Jhunjhunwala, among others.
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

Fyn Mobility, which was earlier known as Pi Beam, offers micro-mobility EV solutions and data analytics services for the EV ecosystem. Its product portfolio includes PIMO Utility two-wheeler, E-Trike, E-Kart, and E-Auto.  

In March 2022, Fyn reportedly raised $1.7 Mn in a Pre-Series A round led by Inflection Point Ventures. 

The round saw participation from investors including Sattva Group and Nanavati family, Sincere Syndication and Conscience Multi-Family Office, and angel investors Fidelity Investments’ Arshad Sayyad, Robert Bosch’s Vijay Ratnaparke, Royal Enfield’s Shaji Koshy and IITM Research Park’s Ashok Jhunjhunwala, among others.

Prior to this, the EV startup raised $705K in a bridge funding round from GAIL (India) Ltd. Currently, it has a presence in Bengaluru and Chennai. It plans to add 2,000 EVs by FY23. 

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31. goEgoNetwork

• Founded In: 2021
• Founders: Sayantan Chakraborti, Dheeman Kadam, Pravin Kumar 
• Funding Raised To Date: $2 Mn
• Investors: Olivier Guillaumond, Rishi Bagla
• Headquarters: Pune

goEgoNetwork offers energy solutions to customers. With its goME app, EV owners can locate the nearest charging stations and use them. 

In August 2021, goEgoNetwork raised $2 Mn (nearly INR 15 Cr) in seed funding to expand its existing electric charging network. The round saw participation from Bagla Group’s Rishi Bagla and Global Innovation Labs’ Olivier Guillaumond.

In 2021, goEgoNetwork is reported to have partnered with TVS Motor to promote EV infra in Himachal Pradesh. Following this, it set up an EV charging facility at Kaza in Spiti Valley to cater to the needs of EV scooters and cars in the region.

The EV startup has got certifications from various government bodies including ARAI and OCA.

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32. Grinntech 

• Founded In: 2013
• Founders: Nikhilesh Mishra, Puneet Jain
• Funding Raised To Date: $2 Mn  
• Investors: V Sumantran, Lakshmi Narayan, KS Manian
• Headquarters: Chennai

Grinntech offers energy storage solutions to customers. It claims to provide an array of lithium-ion batteries such as IC Engine starter batteries, e-cycle and robotics batteries, two-wheeler batteries, three-wheeler batteries, small commercial vehicle batteries, light commercial vehicle batteries, and MHCV batteries, among others.

In 2020, Grinntech raised $2 Mn in an angel funding round. The round saw participation from investors including Ashok Leyland’s V Sumantran, Cognizant’s Lakshmi Narayan, and NAPC’s KS Manian. During the same year, the startup also graduated from the IIT Madras Incubation Cell.

In 2020, Grinntech inked an MoU with the Tamil Nadu government involving an investment of INR 100 Cr. In the following year, it established a manufacturing facility in Chennai that can meet the demand of up to 400 MWh.

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33. Kabira Mobility

• Founded In: 2019
• Founders: Jaibir Siwach, Akash Siwach, and Sagar Siwach
• Funding Raised To Date: $52 Mn
• Investors: Al-Abdulla Group, Classic Group
• Headquarters: Goa

Kabira Mobility is a Goa-based electric motorcycle manufacturer, which started a fledged sales of its ebikes in April 2022. It targets young bike enthusiasts. 

The startup has so far launched two models of its flagship bikes – KM3000 and KM4000. While its KM3000 bike model comes with a 4.14 kWh battery capacity and a range of 120 km per charge, the KM4000 model has a battery capacity of 4.60 kWh and offers a range of 150 km. 

Kabira Mobility also has plans to launch pro variants of its KM3000 and KM4000 models this year. Next year, the ebike startup is expected to launch a new model – KM5000 – in the cruiser bike category.

Earlier this year, the startup raised $50 Mn (around INR 412 Cr) in its Series A funding round Qatar-based Al-Abdulla Group, taking its total funding received to INR 430 Cr.

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34. Kazam EV

• Founded In: 2020 
• Founders: Akshay Shekhar, Vaibhav Tyagi
• Funding Raised To Date: $4.53 Mn
• Investors: Inflection Point Ventures, We Founder Circle 
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

Kazam EV offers software solutions for energy infrastructure. Besides aligning with its own charging stations, the startup’s software supports charging stations of other EV companies as well. It additionally helps micro-entrepreneurs earn money by setting up charging stations in their parking areas. 

In 2021, Kazam raised INR 7 Cr ($0.93 Mn) in a seed round led by Inflection Point Ventures. Besides, it raised an undisclosed amount of investment from We Founder Circle. Earlier in May 2023, the startup picked up $3.6 Mn in a round led by Avaana Climate Fund.

As per its website, Kazam has set up over 7,000 charging stations in India. It has a presence in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Delhi-NCR, Telangana and Tamil Nadu. Its products are essentially utilised by EV OEMs, EV fleet operators and micro-entrepreneurs.

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35. Lithium Urban Technologies

• Founded In: 2014
• Founders: Sanjay Krishnan
• Funding Raised To Date: $58 Mn
• Investors: IFC, EverSource Capital 
• Headquarters: Bengaluru 

Lithium Urban offers sustainability solutions and charging infrastructure to business organisations. The startup essentially offers transport service through its fleet of EVs and associated charging stations.

As per its website, the startup is certified by ISO for implementing guidance on social responsibility. It presently has a fleet size of 2,000 vehicles and operates in over 15 cities, including Bengaluru, NCR, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and Mumbai. 

Through its tech stack, the startup claims to deliver 2X productivity, reduce carbon footprint and cut down transportation costs by 40%. As per Tofler, its revenue from operations stood at INR 53.6 Cr in FY20 as against INR 41.8 Cr in FY19. However, its loss widened to INR 21.1 Cr in FY20 as compared to INR 15.3 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

A few days ago, it reportedly partnered with Tata Motors to deploy 5000 XPRES T Electric Sedans across India for employee transportation.

In March 2022, EverSource Capital, which manages India’s largest climate impact funds, acquired a majority stake in the startup for about $50 Mn. Prior to this, the startup raised $8 Mn from World Bank’s investment arm, International Finance Corporation (IFC), as an equity investor. It raised additional capital from other investors as well. 

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36. Log9 Materials

• Founded In: 2015
• Founders:Akshay Singhal, Kartik Hajela and Pankaj Sharma
• Funding Raised To Date: $65 Mn
• Investors: Amara Raja Batteries, Petronas Venture, Oxyzo Financial Services
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

Incubated at IIT-Roorkee, deeptech startup Log9 Materials manufactures batteries for EVs and energy storage. The startup is also one of the few Li-ion cell manufacturers in the country.

In April 2023, Log9 Materials launched the country’s first commercial cell manufacturing facility at its campus in Bengaluru with an initial capacity of 50 MWh. The startup is working on both lithium titanate oxide (LTO) and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cell technologies.

Log9 Materials’ batteries have powered vehicles of EV manufacturers like Quantum Energy and Hala Mobility, along with the electric fleet of last-mile logistics companies such as Maersk, Blue Dart, and BluWheelz.

In January 2023, the startup raised $40 Mn in its Series B funding round led by Amara Raja Batteries. 

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37. Lohum

• Founded In: 2017
• Founders: Rajat Verma, Justin Lemmon, Gazanfar Safvi
• Funding Raised To Date: $20 Mn+
• Investors: Baring Private Equity Partners, Talbros Automotive Components, Stride Ventures
• Headquarters: Noida

Lohum is a producer of lithium-ion battery raw materials, which it achieves by recycling, repurposing, and low-carbon refining.

Working in a closed-loop recycling model, Lohum acquires used lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles, stationary storage, and consumer electronics. These batteries are then tested and, if deemed reusable, they are given a second life. If the batteries reach their end-of-life, Lohum recycles the battery materials and sells the resulting metals and chemicals to various customers across the supply chain.

Since its inception, the startup has raised over $20 Mn in funding. Lohum recently said that it has collaborated with insurtech unicorn ACKO to optimise the battery insurance and financing costs for the customers.

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38. Magenta Mobility

• Founded In: 2018
• Founders: Maxson Lewis, Darryl Dias
• Funding Raised To Date: $35 Mn
• Investors: bp Ventures, Morgan Stanley India, JITO Angel Network, HPCL, Indian American philanthropist Dr Kiran Patel
• Headquarters: Mumbai

From being a solution provider in the EV charging ecosystem, Magenta Mobility has pivoted to becoming an end-to-end integrated emobility solution provider. 

Currently, it operates over 2K electric three-wheelers and four-wheelers in the L5 and N1 category for last-mile delivery, which it is planning to expand to 5K vehicles by the end of FY24. Magenta Mobility runs its cargo delivery and logistics services in 18 cities, including Bengaluru, Mysuru, Pune Mumbai, Delhi NCR, and Hyderabad. The startup is not a manufacturer and sources its three-wheeler EVs from Altigreen Propulsion Labs, Euler Motors, Mahindra, and Bajaj, and four-wheeler EVs from Tata Motors and Switch Mobility.

In its charging ecosystem, Magenta Mobility manages 72 charging depots to cater to the charging needs of its EV fleet.

Besides, it also develops software technology to enable this entire emobility ecosystem.

In April 2023, Magenta Mobility raised $22 Mn (about INR 180.6 Cr) in its Series A1 funding round from bp Ventures and Morgan Stanley India infrastructure.

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39. Matter

• Founded In: 2019
• Founders: Mohal Lalbhai, Arun Pratap Singh, Kumar Prasad Telikepalli, and Saran Babu
• Funding Raised To Date: $45 Mn+
• Investors:  Info Edge’s Capital 2B Fund 1, Climate Angel Fund
• Headquarters: Ahmedabad

Founded in 2019 by Mohal Lalbhai, Arun Pratap Singh, Kumar Prasad Telikepalli and Saran Babu, Matter is an electric mobility and energy storage-focussed startup. 

The startup boasts a fully functional electric motorcycle AERA, which it launched earlier this year. The ebike has two variants – AERA 5000 and AERA 5000+ – which come with a range of up to 125 km.  

Not just this, Matter, last year, also unveiled what it claims is the country’s first active liquid-cooled two-wheeler EV battery MatterEnergy 1.0. It also closed a $10 Mn in an initial funding round in 2022.

In July 2024, it raised $35 Mn (about INR 290 Cr) in its ongoing Series B funding round, from US-based Helena, Japan Airlines & Translink Innovation Fund, and other existing investors. Matter will raise $65 Mn-$70 Mn overall in the Series B round.

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40. Metastable Materials

• Founded In: 2021
• Founders: Shubham Vishvakarma, Saurav Goyal, Manikumar Uppala
• Funding Raised To Date: Undisclosed 
• Investors: Sequoia Capital’s Surge,  Speciale Invest, Theia Ventures, Akshay Singhal, Sanjeev Rangrass
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

Metastable Materials has developed a one-of-its-kind mechanism, a chemical-free integrated carbothermal reduction process, for extracting and recycling materials from lithium-ion batteries in a more economical and efficient manner. 

The startup was part of the eighth cohort of Sequoia’s Surge accelerator program.

In April 2023, the cleantech startup raised an undisclosed amount of funding in its Seed round from Sequoia Capital’s Surge and other venture capitalists like Speciale Invest and Theia Ventures. 

Metastable Materials is now setting up a 21,000 sq ft battery recycling facility on the outskirts of Bengaluru.

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41. MoEVing

• Founded In: 2021
• Founders: Mragank Jain, Vikash Mishra
• Funding Raised To Date:  $10 Mn 
• Investors:  D.S. Brar, Anshuman Maheshwary, Srihari Raju Kalidindi, Ashish Goel, Krishnadeva Veerareddy, BeyondTeq, GCC family offices, StrideOne, TradeCred, N+1 Capital, and Nitish Mittersain
• Headquarters: Gurugram

MoEVing offers intra-city last-mile delivery solutions, energy infrastructure and fintech solutions. It provides delivery services to companies operating in ecommerce, e-grocery, FMCG, logistics and D2C. Besides, it also works along with OEMs, drivers and financial institutions to address the problems of EV owners when they adopt EVs.

In May, the EV startup secured $5 Mn through equity and debt financing in its ongoing seed funding round. Investors like BeyondTeq, GCC family offices, StrideOne, TradeCred, N+1 Capital, and Nitish Mittersain from Nazara Technologies participated in the round. 

MoEving has a presence in 10 cities in India including Delhi-NCR, Pune, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata. It aims to add 10,000 EVs and 100 charging hubs in 30 cities by 2023. 

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42. Motovolt Mobility

• Founded In: 2018
• Founders: Tushar Choudhary 
• Funding Raised To Date: $1.9 Mn 
• Investors: Wami Capital, PPAP Automotive, Vikrampati Singhania, Ankur Agarwal, Vikas Bagaria
• Headquarters: Kolkata

Motovolt offers sustainable mobility solutions to consumers. Some of its electric bikes are URBN e-Bike, Kivo Easy, Ice, and Kivo 24. 

Recently, the startup also launched an electric bike called URBN for its consumers. The new electric bike has removable twin batteries, weighing about 10 kg each.

In November last year, it bagged $1.9 Mn in Pre-Series A funding round led by Wami Capital. Earlier, it had shared plans to invest INR 200 Cr into its business (in 2023) to enhance product offerings and expand its facility as well as sales network. It claims to have more than 100 POS across the country.

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43. Oben Electric

• Founded In: 2020
• Founders: Madhumita Agrawal, Dinkar Agarwal, and Sagar Thakkar
• Funding Raised To Date: $10.7 Mn
• Investors: Stride Ventures, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency, Mumbai Angels, We Founder Circle
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

Currently, the electric two-wheeler market is predominantly dominated by escooter manufacturers. However, the electric motorcycle sector is relatively limited, with only a few companies operating in this space.

Oben Electric is one of those few startups that are manufacturing electric bikes to make a major shift in a market ruled by the stalwarts like Bajaj Auto, TVS Motor, Hero MotoCorp, and Eicher Motors.

Its flagship electric motorcycle Oben Rorr comes with a top speed of 100 km per hour and a 4.4 kWh battery capacity that can fully charge in two hours.

In the electric motorcycle manufacturing space, Oben Electric currently competes with Revolt Motors, Ultraviolette, Matter, Odysse, Hop Electric, Kabira Mobility, and Orxa Energies.

The startup has raised around $10.7 Mn (over 88 Cr) in total funding so far. In its extended Pre-Series A funding round, it raised $4.88 Mn (INR 72 Cr) in June 2023.

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44. Odysse Electric

• Founded In: 2020
• Founders: Nemin Vora
• Funding Raised To Date: Bootstrapped
• Investors: NA
• Headquarters: Mumbai

Electric mobility startup Odysse is a part of the Vora group of companies that has a vast line of businesses with a primary focus on automobile-based products. As a two-wheeler EV manufacturer, Odysse makes both electric scooters and motorcycles.

In the motorcycle category, the startup has two models – Evoqis and Vader. In the escooter category, Odysse’s main two-wheeler models are E2go, Hawk, and V2.

Odysse also manufactures a last-mile delivery escooter electric scooter, TROT.

Hence, the startup competes with the major players across the EV two-wheeler market, including Revolt, Oben Electric, Ola Electric, TVS Motor, Hero Electric as well as the likes of Yulu.

The company has set up its EV manufacturing facility in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

In July 2023, Odysse announced a strategic partnership with Flipkart to help customers pre-book and purchase Odysse’s EVs more seamlessly from the marketplace.

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45. Ohm Mobility

• Founded In: 2020
• Founders: Nikhil Nair
• Funding Raised To Date: $400K
• Investors: Antler India, Blume Founders Fund, Catalyst Fund, Kunal Shah
• Headquarters: Bangalore

Ohm Mobility is an end-to-end EV-focussed financing platform, which aims to help EV players to get easier access to institutional capital while enabling lenders to discover, verify, and deploy capital to EV companies. It is building a technology platform to connect EV buyers with capital providers.

In May 2023, Ohm Mobility raised INR 3 Cr in a pre-seed funding round led by Antler India. The funding round also saw participation from Blume Founders Fund and angels like Sagar Gubbi, Anshuman Bapna Mathew Chako, and Karishma Menon.

Its current client portfolio includes Race Energy, Eveez, and Hala Mobility, among others. The startup competes with the likes of Vidyut and Turno in the space.

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46. Okinawa Autotech

• Founded In: 2015
• Founders: Jeetender Sharma 
• Funding Raised To Date: Bootstrapped 
• Investors: NA
• Headquarters: Gurugram

Okinawa offers sustainable mobility solutions. The startup offers EV vehicles–RIDGE+, PRAISE PRO, IPRAISE+, R30, Okinawa R30 and LITE. Its high-speed scooters hold various features such as detachable batteries, fast charging, central locking, app connectivity, etc. Its EV vehicles are priced at INR 50K-INR 1.14 Lakh.

As per LinkedIn, it has over 350 dealerships across India so far. It has received a FAME II subsidy from the Indian government and also, got IATD certification for design and manufacturing. It also partnered with the Indian Navy, Delhi Transport Corporation and Tirupati Smart City.

It claims to have sold more than 1 lakh EV scooters since its inception. It has two manufacturing plants in Rajasthan; one plant with a capacity of more than 1 lakh units is in Bhiwandi while the other with 0.5 Mn units is in Alwar. 

Since It’s a bootstrapped venture, the startup has not got external financing so far. However, it is reportedly looking at raising INR 400-INR 500 Cr from American and European private equity players.

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47. Ola Electric 

• Founded In: 2017
• Founders: Bhavish Aggarwal
• Funding Raised To Date: $1 Bn  
• Investors: Tekne Private Ventures, Alpine Opportunity Fund, Edelweiss, Tiger Global and Matrix India, SoftBank, Hyundai, Kia Motors, Bank of Baroda, Falcon Edge, IIFL PE, Cars 24, Moglix, Dealshare, VSS Investco, Pawan Munjal, Ratan Tata, Rahul Mehta
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

Bhavish Agarwal-led Ola Electric offers two-wheelers EVs and energy infrastructure. Founded in 2017, the EV startup manufacturing facility, Ola Future Factory, has a production capacity of 10 Mn two-wheeler EVs per annum and deploys over 3000 robots. 

Recently, Ola Electric was also selected for receiving incentives from the Indian government under the $2.4 Bn PLI scheme to manufacture advanced chemistry cell batteries. A few days later, it also invested in Israel-based battery technology company StoreDot to have access to its XFC battery technology that charges batteries in five minutes. 

In January 2022, Ola Electric had completed its $200 Mn Series C funding round at a valuation of $5 Bn. The round saw participation from investors including Tekne Private Ventures, Alpine Opportunity Fund, and Edelweiss, among others. In October 2023, the company announced closing a $384 Mn funding round in a mix of equity and debt led by Temasek and the State Bank of India.  

Ola Electric got listed on the Indian bourses in August 2024.

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48. Omega Seiki Mobility

• Founded In: 2018
• Founders: Uday Narang
• Funding Raised To Date: Bootstrapped 
• Investors: NA
• Headquarters: New Delhi

Omega Seiki Mobility is an EV manufacturer working across multiple vehicle categories including two-wheelers, cargo and passenger three-wheelers, and trucks tailored for commercial use. Its EV models include Rage+, Stream, and Mopido. 

With an investment of $75 Mn in total, the company has established R&D facilities in India and across other global locations – Thailand, South Korea, Europe, and Latin America. Omega Seiki has manufacturing facilities in Faridabad and Pune.

The company is a part of the Anglian Omega Group, which consists of more than 20 companies.

 Omega Seiki Mobility claims to have sold more than 8,000 EVs so far and operates a vast network of more than 190 dealerships across India. As per Vahan data, Omega Seiki Pvt Ltd’s total EV registrations were 3,579 units in 2023.

The company claims that it is also foraying into the premium electric two-wheeler segment soon – a category that Ola Electric, Ather, and TVS Motor currently dominate.

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49. Pure EV 

• Founded In: 2015
• Founders: Rohit Vadera, Nishanth Dongari
• Funding Raised To Date: $40 Mn+
• Investors: VC Nannapaneni, Bennett Coleman, Hindustan Times Media 
• Headquarters: Telangana

PURE offers sustainable mobility solutions and energy storage systems. It manufactures five EVs models including eTryst 350, epluto, epluto7G, ETranceNEO and ETrance+.   

Its electric bike, eTryst 350 is powered by 4.0 KW peak and 3.0 KW nominal motors. The EV bike’s top speed is 85 kmph and has a load capacity of 160 kg. The epluto scooter is powered with 250 Watt brushless hub motor, and has a top speed of 25 kmph. The epluto7G is powered by 2.2 KW peak and 1.5 KW nominal motors and has a top speed of 60 kmph. 

The startup graduated from IIT Hyderabad. In February 2024, the startup raised $8 Mn in a fresh funding round led by Bennett Coleman, Hindustan Times Media Ventures, with participation from Ushodaya Enterprises and some HNIs.

The EV maker claims to have sold over 70,000 vehicles through a network of 140+ outlets so far, operating across India and exporting to South Asian countries. 

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50. RACE Energy 

• Founded In: 2018
• Founders: Arun Sreyas, Gautham M
• Funding Raised To Date: $6 Mn
• Investors:  Huddle, Prophetic Ventures, Micelio, growX Ventures
• Headquarters: Hyderabad

RACE Energy builds retrofit kits for transforming conventional three-wheeler vehicles into EVs. It also provides energy infrastructure via its battery-swapping stations.

The startup raised $1.3 Mn in a seed funding round led by Micelio Fund and growX ventures in 2021. The round saw participation from Huddle, Prophetic Ventures and BITSian Angels, among others. 

The capital, raised from the round, was infused in research and development (R&D), enhancing the startup’s swapping technology and infrastructure. Prior to this, it raised $500K in a seed funding round from growX ventures, Prophetic Ventures and some angel investors.

The company raised $3 Mn in a pre-series A round led by growx Ventures with participation from Micelio Mobility, Huddle and other angel investors in 2023. The funds will be used for market expansion and for building a new facility.

It aims to set up an extensive battery-swapping network in India and foray into other continents by ​2023.

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51. Revfin

• Founded In: 2018
• Founders: Sameer Aggarwal
• Funding Raised To Date: $30 Mn+
• Investors: DFC, Lets Venture, Green Frontiers Capital, Dheeraj Jain
• Headquarters: Delhi

Revfin is a Delhi-based startup that is trying to make EV financing easier. It provides loans for two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and other small EVs.

The startup is focussed on helping individual drivers in Tier II and III towns get loans for commercial EVs. It largely provides financing for passenger transportation, ecommerce, and cargo delivery EVs.

Revfin has its own NBFC to issue loans. In June 2023, the startup raised $5 Mn in debt from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). In December last year, it raised $14 Mn in its Series B funding round, led by Omidyar Network. 

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52. Revolt Motors 

• Founded In: 2017
• Founders: Rahul Sharma 
• Funding Raised To Date: $20 Mn+ (approx)
• Investors: RattanIndia Group
• Headquarters: Haryana

Revolt offers sustainable mobility solutions across India. The startup manufactures AI-enabled EV bikes – RV 400 and RV 300. Its EV bikes are equipped with onboard charging and portable charging features. The RV 400 has a 3.24 kWh lithium battery while RV 300 has a 2.7 kWh lithium battery. 

The startup also offers app-based battery swapping stations named Revolt Switch Stations where EV bike owners can exchange their batteries for a charged one. It has retail stores in multiple cities of India, including Jaipur, Surat, Bengaluru, Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Noida, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Visakhapatnam, Lucknow, Kochi and Hubli. 

In April 2021, it secured INR 150 Cr (around $20.12 Mn at then exchange rates) from RattanIndia Group to expand its footprint in India and the South Asian market. With this investment, RattanIndia acquired a 43% stake in the Haryana-based EV startup, while Rajiv Rattan, chairman of RattanIndia Enterprises, joined its board as a non-executive chairman.

Earlier this year, RattanIndia acquired Revolt entirely, making it a wholly-owned subsidy.

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53. River

• Founded In: 2021
• Founders: Aravind Mani and Vipin George
• Funding Raised To Date: $68 Mn
• Investors: Al Futtaim Group, Lowercarbon Capital, Toyota Ventures, Yamaha Motor Corp
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

River is an electric two-wheeler manufacturer that launched its first escooter model India in February 2023. The startup ran operations in stealth mode for the last two years while working on its product development and R&D.

River’s Indie comes with a motor that has a peak power of 6.7 kW and can reach a top speed of 90 km per hour. The current vehicle model has a 4 kWh battery with a range of 120 km. 

River throws direct competition to the escooter majors like Ola Electric, Ather Energy, TVS Motor, Pure EV, and others.

In June 2023, River raised $15 Mn (INR 124 Cr) and in February 2024, it raised another $40 Mn in its Series B funding round. So far, the startup has raised $68 Mn in three funding rounds.

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54. SmartE 

• Founded In: 2015 
• Founders: Goldie Srivastava 
• Funding Raised To Date: $18.3 Mn 
• Investors: Mitsui and Co, Ecotransit Investments International, Shell Foundation
• Headquarters: Delhi

SmartE offers last-mile connectivity to commuters. The startup operates a fleet of electric vehicles in more than 10 cities in India, including Faridabad, Noida, Gurugram, Delhi, Lucknow, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. 

In January 2022, SmartE along with Revfin, an EV-focused lending startup, got an undisclosed amount of investment from the Shell Foundation to extend new loans to three-wheelers EVs on its platform. In July 2019, it raised INR 100 Cr in a Series B funding round from Mitsui and Co. Prior to this, it had raised $5 Mn in Series A round from Ecotransit Investments International.  

According to its website, SmartE has partnered with 17 companies such as Kinetic Green, NTPC, SBI, HSIIDC, ACME, Sun Mobility, Exicom and AMARA RAJA. It further claims to have worked with more than 25 clients, including BigBasket, Flipkart, SpicXpress, Milkbasket, and Blowhorn.

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55. Snap-E Cabs

• Founded In: 2022
• Founders: Mayank Bindal and Jaydip Mukherjee
• Funding Raised To Date: Bootstrapped
• Investors: NA
• Headquarters: Kolkata

The 2022-founded Snap-E Cabs is an electric ride-hailing business that competes with the likes of BluSmart as well as Uber and Ola in the fast-evolving Indian ride-hailing market.

The bootstrapped startup initiated its operations in August 2022 and achieved a total fleet size of 600 electric cars by November 2023. 

Currently running in Kolkata only, Snap-E plans to deploy 2,000-3,000 more cars in the city in the next two years. However, instead of expanding its operations further in Tier-I cities, Snap-E aims to bring its electric cab services to cities in Raipur and Bhuvaneshwar.

It achieved a gross merchandise value (GMV) of INR 11 Cr in just six months till October 2023. Snap-E is in talks with some VC firms and angel investors to raise some external funding.

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56. Sheru

• Founded In: 2019
• Founders: Ankit Mittal, Nakul Mehan, and Shikhar Sharma
• Funding Raised To Date: $2 Mn
• Investors: Micelio, Smile Group, AdvantEdge
• Headquarters: Delhi

A brainchild of Ankit Mittal, Nakul Mehan and Shikhar Sharma, Sheru is a new-generation energy storage startup that has integrated vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology with battery swapping infrastructure. 

The startup initially operated battery swapping infrastructure for e-rickshaws. In 2023, Sheru launched a virtual cloud storage network, NetBat, which aggregates idle EV batteries to create energy storage facilities for utility companies. 

Power producers can simply tap into Sheru’s platform to store energy virtually as per their demand and on a pay-per-use basis. 

Sheru’s range of products and services also cater to battery manufacturers, financiers, resellers, and distribution companies. 

In June 2023, Sheru announced a partnership with intercity bus service provider, zingbus. Recently, Sheru also launched EnergyBox, a battery charging dock designed to charge detachable electric two-wheeler batteries at home, while also providing power backup for homes.

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57. Statiq

• Founded In: 2019
• Founders:  Akshit Bansal, Raghav Arora 
• Funding Raised To Date: ~$26 Mn
• Investors: Shell Ventures, Y Combinator

Statiq is an EV charging network provider that provides both hardware and software solutions. Its wide range of hardware solutions includes Statiq DC CCS charger, Statiq Circle, and AdWall.

Through its app, users can avail charging services installed by Statiq, as well as other prominent charging network providers, including E-Fill, Sunfuel, and GLIDA. 

Over the years, Statiq has joined forces with multiple government bodies, automaker companies and major hospitality players covering more than 65 cities, comprising over 7,000 chargers. In July this year, the startup partnered with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL).

Statiq plans to install 20,000 charging points across the country by 2025. In 2022, it raised $25.7 Mn in its Series A round led by Shell Ventures.

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58. SUN Mobility 

• Founded In: 2016
• Founders: Chetan Maini, Uday Khemka
• Funding Raised To Date: $50 Mn 
• Investors: Vitol
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

SUN Mobility, a joint venture of Maini Group and Sun Group, offers energy infrastructure. It manufactures lithium-ion batteries, named Smart Batteries, for two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and buses. 

Through its app, EV drivers can locate its battery swapping stations and Quick Interchange Solutions, and swap their batteries. 

As per its website, the startup has partnered with various companies such as Omega Seiki, Vitol, Zypp Electric, Tata Power-DDL, Zyngo, Bosch, Piaggio, IndianOil, Uber, SmartE, Microsoft, and Ashok Leyland. It presently has 65 swapping stations in 15 cities in India, including Delhi, Noida, Faridabad, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Gurugram, and Bengaluru.

In October 2021, it reportedly secured $50 Mn in funding from Vitol to expand its footprint in India and abroad. 

It aims to set up 500 battery-swapping stations in the country by the end of the current year. It further plans to launch new products to improve the battery-swapping experience and strengthen its leadership.

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59. TORK Motors

• Founded In: 2010
• Founders:  Kapil Shelke
• Funding Raised To Date: $10 Mn+
• Investors: Ratan Tata, Maxis Capital, Bharat Forge, Bhavish Aggarwal

TORK Motors is an electric motorcycle manufacturer. Registered in 2010, the EV startup also claims to be the first electric motorcycle maker in the country.

In early 2024, TORK Motors raised $6 Mn in a fresh funding round from Maxis Capital. The startup claims to have filed over 50 patents and designs so far. It also manufactures powertrains for two- and three-wheelers.

In 2023, Log9 and TORK Motors partnered to promote interoperable charging infrastructure in the country under the Bharat Charge Alliance (BCA).

As per Vahan data, the EV bike OEM saw a total vehicle registration of 1,589 units in 2023, up almost 400% YoY.

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60. TSUYO

• Founded In: 2020
• Founders: Lalit Baid, Vijay Kumar 
• Funding Raised To Date: $12 Mn+
• Investors: Ramkrishna Forgings
• Headquarters: Delhi

TSUYO Manufacturing, a subsidiary of JYVA Engineering, makes powertrain solutions for electric vehicles (EVs) in India and other Asian nations.  

The startup produces BLDC motors and controllers for three-wheeler electric vehicles. It also builds customised EV solutions for companies, according to its website.

In December last year, Kolkata-based supplier Ramkrishna Forgings Ltd. acquired a 51% stake in TSUYO for around INR 100 Cr (around $12.07 Mn at the then exchange rates). 

Ramkrishna Forgings had said that it would invest heavily in TSUYO in the next five years to increase its turnover to around INR 500 Cr by the end of the fifth year. 

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61. Ultraviolette Automotive

• Founded In: 2016
• Founders: Narayan Subramaniam and Niraj Rajmohan  
• Funding Raised To Date: $20.56 Mn
• Investors: TVS, Zoho Corporation, Kumar Vembu, 
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

Ultraviolette Automotive offers sustainable mobility solutions and energy infrastructure to customers. The EV startup sells a zero-emission electric bike named F77 and batteries on its website. 

In December 2021, Ultraviolette Automotive raised INR 112.5 Cr (about $15 Mn) from TVS Motor and Zoho. While TVS invested INR 75 Cr, Zoho pumped INR 38 Cr into the startup.  

Prior to this, Ultraviolette Automotive got an investment of INR 30 Cr from TVS in Series B funding round. In October 2020, it got an undisclosed amount of investment from GoFrugal’s Kumar Vembu as a part of a Series B round. Vembu also invested in the EV startup’s Series A round.

In 2018, Ultraviolette Automotive raised $862K (INR 6 Cr) in Series A round from TVS Motor Company. Earlier in 2017, TVS invested $700K (INR5 Cr) for a 14.78% stake in the EV startup.

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62. Vecmocon

• Founded In: 2016
• Founders:  Peeyush Asati, Adarshkumar B and Shivam Wankhede 
• Funding Raised To Date: Funding: $5.2 Mn
• Investors: Tiger Global, Blume Ventures, Tessellate Ventures
• Headquarters: Delhi-NCR

Vecmocon offers battery management systems, vehicle intelligence services, chargers and instrument clusters. Its plug-and-play service integrates into electric vehicles’ OEMs. It is currently offering these services to electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers, forklifts and tractors.

According to its website, the EV startup will soon begin offering motor controllers and fleet management for electric vehicles. 

In October, the EV startup secured $5.2 Mn in its Pre-Series A funding round from Tiger Global, Blume Ventures and other angel investors. The startup said it powered 5K EVs to date and aims to power more than 500K electric vehicles by 2025.

In 2019, it secured $300K in its seed funding round led by Tessellate Ventures.

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63. Vidyut Tech

• Founded In: 2021
• Founders: Xitij Kothi and Gaurav Srivastava
• Funding Raised To Date: $14 Mn+
• Investors: 3one4 Capital, Force Ventures, Veda VC, Kunal Shah, Sahil Barua
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

Founded in 2021, Vidyut Tech is a commercial EV financing and vehicle lifecycle management platform, which aims to make commercial EV ownership more accessible and affordable.

The startup is trying to solve some of the biggest problems in the EV financing space by decoupling batteries from vehicles while underwriting loans for EVs. Given there is a gap in the longevity of EV batteries and vehicle chassis, Vidyut Tech believes that this approach works better for most customers in the L5 category of vehicles that it caters to.

Besides a traditional term loan plan, Vidyut provides buyers with a hybrid financing model for vehicle loans with a battery subscription. This brings down the upfront cost of the EVs by 40%-50%.

Using battery health data and its proprietary underwriting model, Vidyut extracts a high residual value for EVs, enabling customers to get an effective interest rate of 7% while buying the vehicles.

Recently, in February, it raised $10 Mn as a part of its Series A funding round led by 3one4 Capital. Vidyut now plans to expand its offerings in EV insurance, after-sales, servicing maintenance, and even charging and resale.

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64. Yulu

• Founded In: 2017
• Founders: Amit Gupta, RK Misra, Naveen Dachuri, Hemant Gupta
• Funding Raised To Date: $125 Mn+
• Investors: Blume Ventures, 3One4 Capital, Wavemaker Partners, Incubate Fund India, Magna, Bajaj
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

Yulu offers sustainable mobility solutions and charging infrastructure. It provides emobility solutions in cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, and Hyderabad while also offering an AI-enabled battery-as-a-service (BaaS) to its electric vehicle users through the ‘Yuma Energy’ battery swapping stations.

The startup offers Yulu Miracle for urban commuters and Yulu DeX for last-mile delivery. Besides, in 2023, the company also launched Yulu Wynn to provide its customers with the experience of owning its bikes.

In 2022, Yulu raised $82 Mn in its Series B funding round led by the Magna, with participation from Bajaj Auto. In February 2024, the startup secured another $19.25 Mn from the same strategic investors.

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65. Zen Mobility

• Founded In: 2018
• Founders: Namit Jain
• Funding Raised To Date: Bootstrapped
• Investors: NA

Zen Mobility designs, engineers, and manufactures custom light electric vehicles (LEVs) with an aim to transform logistics and urban mobility. 

Zen Mobility is currently piloting the delivery of grocery and dairy products for startups, including BigBasket and Country Delight, via its newly launched mobile refrigeration unit, Micro Pod ThermoFlex. 

Its Micro Pod ThermoFlex can store products in a range of 15 to -15 degrees Celsius, depending on the needs. 

The startup is aiming to raise $10 Mn in its maiden funding round from a strategic partner.

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66. Zypp Electric

• Founded In: 2017
• Founders: Akash Gupta, Rashi Agarwal
• Funding Raised To Date: $12 Mn
• Investors: Northern Arc, 9Unicorns, Anthill Ventures, Nanavati Family Office, We Founder Circle, Riso Capital Fund, Dholakia Ventures, Venture Catalysts, IAN Fund, Tarun Saraf, Rahul Khera, Arjun Seth, Mark Joseph
• Headquarters: Gurugram

Zypp Electric offers B2B delivery and shared mobility services to consumers. It provides electric scooters for last-mile delivery to more than 50 companies, including Zomato, Swiggy, BigBasket, Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, PharmEasy, Delhivery, and Spencers, among others. 

Earlier, it had shared that with 6,000 electric vehicles on the road, it helped its partners complete more than 5 Mn deliveries in the financial year 2021-22.

In September 2021, it bagged $7 Mn in a Series A funding round led by 9Unicorns and Anthill Ventures. 

It has a headcount of 400 employees and plans to double its employee base by September 2023. 

This is a running article, we will keep adding more names to the list.

Last updated on September 18, 2024

The post 66 EV Startups That Are Helping Keep The Earth Healthy And Clean appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Ride hailing unicorn Rapido, which is also navigating options to venture into the quick commerce turf as competition heats up, is reportedly pulling out all stops to fully electrify its bike taxi fleet in Delhi by next year.

As per Moneycontrol’s report, citing the startup’s founder and CEO Arvind Sanka, betting on this move to fully go electric, Rapido has partnered with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and fleet operators like Zypp Electric and Gogoro.

Inc42 has reached out to Rapido for comments on the development. The story will be updated based on the response.

The move aligns with the Delhi government’s goal to electrify all bike taxis by 2030 owing to the huge pollution problem. In November last year, the state government initiated a phase-wise transition of cab operators’ fleets to electric vehicles.

Additionally, the Delhi government came up with the scheme EV Policy 2.0 to allow bike-taxi aggregators to run their operations in Delhi, provided they are electrical. 

Currently, the scheme is awaiting lieutenant governor VK Saxena’s final clearance.

Yesterday,(September 16), Rapido’s counterpart Ola Cabs announced the relaunch of its bike-taxi service in Bengaluru using only electric scooters.

It is pertinent to note that major ride-hailing players have been doubling down on the electrification of their fleets in recent times. 

For instance, in January, Ola announced the deployment of 10,000 electric two-wheelers in Bengaluru, Delhi, and Hyderabad in the next two months. It also purchased 8,000 E2Ws from Ola Electric for the pilot, which kicked off in Bengaluru in September 2023. 

In June, Uber as part of the launch of Uber Green said that it will add 25,000 electric cars on its platform in partnership with fleet providers like Lithium, Everest and Moove. Besides, it will roll out 10,000 electric two-wheelers in Delhi by 2024 along with Zypp Electric, another EV start-up.

Another player, BluSmart aims to have 10,000 electric vehicles by the end of this year. It has been able to grow its fleet of E4Ws in a short span from 2,000 cars in Q3 FY23 to close to 6,000 in Q3 FY24, its cofounder Anmol Singh Jaggi told Inc42 in January. 

This comes at the heart of Rapido undergoing several changes towards offering diversification and expansion lately. 

Earlier this month Rapido joined the coveted unicorn club by raising $200 Mn (INR 1,660 Cr) in a Series E funding round led by existing investor WestBridge Capital, valuing the startup at $1.1 Bn. 

Founded in 2015 by Rishikesh SR, Pavan Guntupalli, and Aravind Sanka, the startup primarily operates in the bike taxi and auto transportation segments. In December last year, it also launched cab services in some cities. In addition, it also offers peer-to-peer delivery services via Rapido Local. 

On the financial front, Rapido’s net loss widened over 50% to INR 674.5 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 439 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Operating revenue zoomed to INR 443 Cr from INR 144.8 Cr in FY22.

The post Rapido Sets The Ball Rolling On Fully Electrifying Its Delhi Bike Taxi Fleet By Next Year appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Amid a fierce battle in India’s quick commerce turf with major players like Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Flipkart’s ‘Minutes’ aggressively trying to lure away consumers from large ecommerce platforms, ride-hailing unicorn Rapido is now reportedly looking to make its foray into the booming sector.

As per TOI’s report, Bengaluru-based Rapido has kicked off discussions with Zepto, along with grocers like Pincode and KPN to ace the quick commerce vertical.

For the uninitiated, Rapido works with only two players on its B2B logistics arm, limited to food delivery – Swiggy and the government-run Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).

Inc42 has reached out to Rapido for comments on the development. The story will be updated based on their response.

Responding to Inc42’s query, a Zepto spokesperson said, “these are based on market speculations and hold no value.”

As per the report, Zepto’s founder and chief executive Aadit Palicha has said that the company maintains control over more than 90% of its delivery fleet internally.

“The talks are preliminary in nature but make perfect sense since Nexus Venture Partners is a common investor in the two companies and the synergies just add up with ample supply at Rapido’s end,” a source was quoted as saying in the report.

Earlier this month, Rapido vaulted into the unicorn club after raising $200 Mn (INR 1,660 Cr) in its Series E funding round led by existing investor WestBridge Capital with a valuation of $1.1 Bn.

The round also saw participation from existing backer Nexus Venture Partners, along with new investors Think Investments and New York-based Invus Opportunities.

Founded in 2015 by Rishikesh SR, Pavan Guntupalli, and Aravind Sanka, the startup primarily operates in the bike taxi and auto transportation segments. In December last year, it also launched cab services in some cities. In addition, it also offers peer-to-peer delivery services via Rapido Local. 

On the financial front, Rapido’s net loss widened over 50% to INR 674.5 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 439 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Operating revenue zoomed to INR 443 Cr from INR 144.8 Cr in FY22.

This comes at a time when a host of ecommerce companies have started making their way into the quick commerce race, with the market potential that it offers today.

Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit and Zepto have displayed consistent growth in its offerings, and with the companies having stretched its product lines to include deliveries of electronics, toys, home appliances and more, it has begun to cause a threat to ecommerce businesses.

Very recently, Flipkart rolled out its own line called Minutes, available on its home application, while Tata-owned BigBasket has moved from being an online grocery delivery platform to a full-scale quick commerce platform.

Earlier this year, JioMart, the digital commerce arm of Reliance Retail rolled out a pilot for instant delivery of groceries and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) products in some parts of Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.

To make the most of this booming demand and protect their turf amid the intensifying competition, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart and Blinkit are expanding to newer cities ahead of the festive season, while also opening multiple dark stores in the new cities to expand quickly.

“Bike taxi services peak in the morning hours during schools, offices and colleges commute time. These partnerships help utilise the vehicles efficiently throughout the day. For drivers and bikers, their earnings increase by 25% for the same time they spend on the platform,” Aravind Sanka, founder and chief executive of Rapido was quoted as saying in the report.

“Our B2B business is less than 7% of the overall business. This side does deliveries using two-wheelers,” he added.

Rapido currently handles 2.5 Mn orders per day, where these orders are spread across bike taxis, auto as well as cab rides, Sanka also said.

The company is currently offering its services in over 100 cities across the country. In addition, it also offers peer-to-peer delivery services via Rapido Local.

Sanka said that the company operates a fleet of 700,000 riders.

The post Flush With Fresh Funds, Rapido Seeks To Ride The Quick Commerce Wave appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Bengaluru-based Porter has joined the government-run Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to meet the growing demand for hyperlocal deliveries.

“We will also actively work towards expanding our portfolio to cater to a broader range of customer delivery needs,” said Porter’s vice president Abhinav Vadrevu.

“By welcoming Porter to the ONDC Network, we are further strengthening this vital component of the e-commerce landscape. This not only provides our sellers with an additional reliable logistics option but also expands the choices available to buyers, enhancing the open and decentralized nature of the network,” said T Koshy, managing director and chief executive officer at ONDC.

This comes close on the heels of the logistics major managing to trim its net loss by 45% in the financial year ended March 31, 2024 on the back of lower cash burn. 

Its top line growth also zoomed with operating revenue at INR 2,733.7 Cr for FY24, up 56% against INR 1,737.4 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

The startup primarily earns revenue by providing transportation services through its own fleet. 

Founded in 2014 by Pranav Goel, Uttam Digga and Vikas Choudhary, Porter offers B2B and B2C logistics service. It also claims to offer services like distance-based allocation, GPS tracking, proactive notifications, and more, to its driver partners.

It currently has a fleet of over 7.5 lakh drivers in more than 22 cities. Besides, the Peak XV backed startup is also eyeing to expand its two-wheeler fleet in tier-2 cities

Meanwhile, ONDC is an open protocol-based network to enable local commerce across multiple segments, including grocery and mobility among others. It was incorporated in 2021 as an initiative of DPIIT under the aegis of ministry of commerce and industry. 

The network claims to enable more than 1.2 Cr orders per month and has forayed into categories such as fintech, fashion, electronics in products, and ride-hailing, among others. ONDC claims to have over 6 Lakh sellers live on its network across the country.

This comes at the heart of ONDC diversifying its offerings with onboarding several players lately. For instance, Ola was reportedly planning to roll out an ONDC based option to purchase groceries, fashion and apparel via its app. 

Not less than 12 Indian unicorn startups including the likes of EaseMyTrip, OfBusiness, Zerodha, PhysicsWallah and others have already signed letters of intent to join the network.

ONDC processed 12.5 Mn transactions in August, marking a sequential increase of 5%. The majority of these transactions were from the mobility category, while the rest came from sectors such as retail purchases and logistics services, among others.

The post Porter Joins ONDC To Expand Its Hyperlocal Delivery Playbook appeared first on Inc42 Media.

After a gap of almost 10 years, ride hailing major Uber has announced the relaunch of its high-end Uber Black service in India, starting with Mumbai next week.

Last month, Inc42 reported that Uber would be bringing back its Uber Black service to India as the company focuses on upgrading its services to cater to the premium segment.

Uber Black is a service in its high-end black cars, with highly rated and professional chauffeurs.

Uber said in a statement that this new addition is a step towards addressing the growing preference of Indian customers towards premium offerings and the company’s ability to deliver a new standard of on-demand mobility in premium cars.

The upgrade of Uber Black’s features include riders to enjoy in-car amenities and on-trip preferences, ensuring consistently high quality experience. 

Uber Black also allows for a personalised ride with customizable features like quiet mode, temperature control, and help with luggage.

The company also said that the premium cab offers extended wait times, providing riders a benefit of an additional 5-minute pickup window without incurring a waiting fee, offering greater flexibility.

Prabhjeet Singh, president at Uber India and South Asia said, “As the largest on-demand mobility network with industry-leading matching, routing, and pricing tech and scaled fleet operations – we are bringing the magic of consistent high quality service and premium comfort with Black.”

Uber has introduced various kinds of vehicle options to stay ahead of its competitors to remain the most preferred option for booking rides. The recent introduction being Uber Green with the mounting likes over electric vehicles, in November 2023.

Aside from that, the company has also rolled out its shuttle services in the national capital, looking at the potential of public transport in the metro cities.

With the inflation and geopolitical tensions on peak, the price bands of groceries to fuel are stubbornly high. Consumers have now begun to adapt to spending more from their pockets, and are open to experiencing luxury services, providing room for premium brands to flourish.

“As India’s leading multimodal mobility service, Uber endeavors to cater to the full spectrum of riders, from those seeking affordable rides on two or three wheels to those who desire a truly well-appointed experience in premium vehicles,” Singh added.

The post Uber Brings Back Its Premium ‘Black’ Service To India After 10 Years appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Hyperlocal logistics startup Porter managed to narrow its net loss by 45% in the financial year ended March 31, 2024 due to lower cash burn. The Peak XV Partners-backed startup’s loss declined to INR 95.7 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24)  from INR 174.6 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Operating revenue zoomed 56% to INR 2,733.7 Cr during the year under review from INR 1,737.4 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Porter offers B2B and B2C logistics service. It primarily earns revenue by providing transportation services through its own fleet. 

Including total income, the startup’s total revenue stood at INR 2,766.4 Cr in FY24, an increase of 54.5% from INR 1,789.4 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Founded in 2014 by Pranav Goel, Vikas Chaudhary, and Uttam Digga, Porter claims to provide distance-based allocation, GPS tracking, proactive notifications, and more, to empower its driver partners.

Where Did Porter Spend?

The startup’s total expenditure rose 46% to INR 2,862.1 Cr during the year under review from INR 1,964 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Fleet Operator Cost: This cost accounted for 83% of Porter’s total expenditure, rising 50% to INR 2,369 Cr from INR 1,578.8 Cr in FY23.

Employee Expenses: The second biggest expense for the startup was its employee costs. Porter spent INR 237.3 Cr on employee benefits in FY24, an increase of 24% from INR 190.9 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

EBITDA margin improved to -2.93% in FY24 from -9.46% in the previous fiscal year. 

Porter has raised a total funding of about $132 Mn till date and counts marquee investors such as Tiger Global, Peak XV, Lightrock, and Kae Capital among its backers.

Earlier this year, Moneycontrol reported that Porter entered the coveted unicorn club following an internal funding round. However, the startup hasn’t provided any clarity on it till date. 

Porter competes against the likes of Shadowfax, Dunzo, Swiggy Genie, Pidge, among others.

The post Porter FY24: Loss Declines 45% To INR 96 Cr, Revenue Crosses INR 2,500 Cr Mark appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Driven by an ever-expanding fleet of new brands, the Indian frozen food industry has undergone a complete metamorphosis in recent years. However, the expansion of this segment, fuelled by a range of factors, including the pandemic, a surge in global culinary trends, and increased urbanisation, has not been easy.

Topping the list of challenges for companies in this line of work are the substantial capital investments needed to establish and maintain freezing facilities, storage infrastructure, and distribution networks.

Moreover, despite improvements in the cold chain infrastructure, significant gaps remain, posing ongoing challenges in ensuring the consistent quality and safety of frozen products throughout the supply chain.

Amid this, Mira Jhala, a third-time entrepreneur, is hell-bent on solving the cold storage supply chain challenges for frozen foods with her B2B supply chain startup, FroGo.

Founded in March 2022, FroGo provides tailored fulfilment infrastructure for ice cream and frozen food brands, allowing them to start online operations in a few days.

Notably, Jhala comes with a ton of experience in the food industry. Before moving back to India in 2009, she worked in the US for several years. Her previous startup in the food services space was acquired by Curefit, and she wanted her next venture to remain within the food industry but address an underserved market.

“Over the years, I have observed the growth of the frozen food sector, noticing a significant increase in exposure from 2009 to the present. I have also identified gaps throughout the entire supply chain. The rapid growth of this category is evident, with the domestic retail market valued at INR 50,000 Cr and expanding at a 17% CAGR. The strong demand and growth potential in this sector make it an attractive opportunity for addressing the current market needs,” Jhala said.

Where Does FroGo Fit Into The Supply Chain Equation?

Speaking with Inc42, Jhala shared that her goal with FroGo is to streamline how food brands connect with consumers by leveraging its network of dark stores, which also forms the core of FroGo’s operations. These dark stores hold the inventory, process orders, and handle deliveries, allowing brands to serve customers swiftly.

Currently, Frogo operates over 50 dark stores in Delhi, Noida, Faridabad, Chandigarh, Panchkula, and Mohali.

Per Jhala, the company is rapidly expanding its reach by adding two new dark stores each week to keep pace with the growing demand. Further, the startup simplifies how food brands deliver their products to consumers through a network of dark stores and third-party warehouses.

It also enjoys its partnerships with three external warehouse companies to manage the storage of products for various brands. FroGo also takes care of logistics, ensuring that products are efficiently moved from these warehouses to its dark stores.

Jhala told Inc42 that while the market includes quick commerce players offering 10-minute delivery and large platforms like Amazon with 1 to 3-day delivery, FroGo occupies a unique niche between these two extremes.

“We focus on providing 30 to 90-minute deliveries, offering a middle ground where brands can maintain control over their demand while achieving fast delivery times,” the founder said.

Besides fast delivery, brands that partner with FroGo can showcase their full product catalogue and manage demand themselves, rather than depending on the platforms where they may have limited SKUs. Hence, this provides a parallel channel to both quick commerce and traditional ecommerce, catering to specific needs without overlapping with existing solutions.

The Road Ahead For Frogo

Currently, FroGo operates on a revenue-sharing model with the brands that use its dark store network. The startup claims to be working with 70+ FMGC and D2C brands. However, the founder denied to share FY24 numbers.

By the end of FY25, FroGo aims to work with around 150 brands, expanding beyond just frozen foods to include a broader range of food products.

“Customer acquisition has not been a challenge for us. As a B2B company, our clients are food brands, and we already work with over 70 of them. Word spreads quickly in our industry, and we even have a waiting list of 22 brands eager to onboard,” Jhala said.

In addition, FroGo’s annual gross merchandise value (GMV) stands at approximately INR 18 Cr. As it is expanding its dark store network, it is targeting a 5X increase in GMV in FY25.

The startup is also focussed on adding two dark stores every week in North India and has plans to expand into southern cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chennai soon.

“This expansion will impact our expenses, but we have structured our business model to ensure that we achieve contribution margin positivity in each city within six months. This approach allows us to grow quickly but sustainably,” Jhala added.

According to a market study, the India Supply Chain Management (SCM) market, valued at $3.42 Bn in 2023, is set to grow at a CAGR of 11.1%, reaching $6.43 Bn by 2030.
On a different note, FroGo’s competitors like JustDeliveries and Indicold have recently grabbed a lot of investor interest.

In March, JustDeliveries secured $1 Mn in a funding round led by NABVENTURES Fund, with participation from FAAD Network, Anay Ventures, Caret Capital and the Mahansaria family office.

With the capital, the cold chain solutions startup plans to deepen its logistics networks across key cities, including Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, and NCR, and launch operations in Hyderabad. Similarly, supply chain startup Indicold received raised funds from Fundalogical Ventures and Everstone Group to expand its footprint.

With this kind of investor interest and growth in the segment, the entry of more players is inevitable. For now, to secure its market position from existing players and new entrants, FroGo may have to be on its toes until it becomes a go-to name in the industry.

[Edited By Shishir Parasher]

The post Can FroGo’s 30-To-90-Minute Delivery Playbook Disrupt India’s Frozen Food Supply Chain? appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Rapido has raised $200 Mn (INR 1,660 Cr) in a Series E funding round led by existing investor WestBridge Capital that catapulted the ride-hailing startup into the unicorn club with a valuation of $1.1 Bn.

The round also saw participation from existing backer Nexus Venture Partners, along with new investors Think Investments and New York-based Invus Opportunities.

Aravind Sanka, cofounder of Rapido, said in a statement that the proceeds would be deployed to expand the company’s recently launched four-wheeler taxi service.

Additionally, the investment will support the expansion of Rapido’s operations across India and the scaling of its technology platform to improve service delivery.

“The latest fundraise comes on the back of strong growth we have clocked over the last two years,” he added.

In July, Inc42 reported that Rapido secured $120 Mn (approximately INR 1,000 Cr) from existing investor WestBridge Capital. 

Rapido is currently clocking 2.3-2.5 Mn orders daily across different form factors, with 7% coming from business-to-business (B2B) operations. Under B2B, the company fulfils food-delivery orders for Swiggy during lean hours for bike-taxi services and has also onboarded the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) as a logistics provider, said the cofounder.

Founded in 2015 by Rishikesh SR, Pavan Guntupalli, and Aravind Sanka, the startup primarily operates in the bike taxi and auto transportation segments. In December last year, it also launched cab services in some cities. In addition, it also offers peer-to-peer delivery services via Rapido Local. 

On the financial front, Rapido’s net loss widened over 50% to INR 674.5 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 439 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Operating revenue zoomed to INR 443 Cr from INR 144.8 Cr in FY22.

The post Rapido Claims Unicorn Tag With $200 Mn Funding From WestBridge, Others appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The Delhi High Court (HC) has asked ride-hailing unicorn Rapido to submit a compliance report on the accessibility of its app for persons with disability (PwD).

The HC has directed the company to also submit an audit report from an “access auditor” empanelled with the department of empowerment of PwD under the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment by November 28. 

The order was given by Judge Sanjeev Narula while hearing a writ petition filed by accessibility activist Amar Jain and visually impaired banker Dipto Ghosh Choudhary against Rapdio, raising concerns on accessibility of Rapido’s app for PwD. 

The petitioners said that the Rapido app fails to cater to the needs of disabled individuals. They also highlighted certain features of the app that fall short in terms of compatibility with softwares which increase accessibility, such as screen reading softwares, thus rendering the app “significantly unusable” by PwD. 

Responding to the petition, Rapido acknowledged the accessibility issues and said it would update its app within 6-8 months to comply with accessibility standards under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.

Further, the startup said that it would introduce a training programme for its captains and staff to ensure they can provide supportive and accommodating service to PwD. It will also look to develop a feedback mechanism to acknowledge and address the concerns of PwD. 

“This initiative includes training on sensitivity, awareness, and the specific needs of persons with disabilities, as mandated under Section 47 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPWD Act),” the startup said. 

Following this, the HC asked Rapido to submit the compliance report.

In a post on LinkedIn, Jain, who heads non-profit organisation ‘Mission Accessibility’, said that the order will help address the gaps in accessibility for PwD while availing ride-hailing services. 

“We trust that this continued legal intervention would help us plug the gaps of disability inclusion in aggregator based transportation in the country and Rapido would become another good example in this space just like Namma Yatri,” he said. 

The development came almost a month after Rapido entered the coveted unicorn club after raising $120 Mn (about INR 1,000 Cr) from existing investor WestBridge Capital.

Founded in 2015 by Rishikesh SR, Pavan Guntupalli, and Aravind Sanka, the startup  primarily operates in the bike taxi and auto transportation segments. In December last year, it also launched cab services in some cities. In addition, it also offers peer-to-peer delivery services via Rapido Local. 

Rapido counts the likes of Swiggy, TVS Motor, Nexus Venture Partners, and Shell Ventures among its investors.

On the financial front, Rapido’s net loss widened over 50% to INR 674.5 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 439 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Operating revenue zoomed to INR 443 Cr from INR 144.8 Cr in FY22.

The post Delhi HC Asks Rapido To Ensure App Accessibility For Persons With Disability appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Road accidents remain a global scourge, claiming countless lives annually and inflicting a devastating impact on economies worldwide. The fight against road accidents transcends boundaries as governments around the world echo the same question: How can we reduce them?

In 2020, the UN proclaimed the ‘Decade of Action for Road Safety,’ targeting a 50% reduction in road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030. In India, the scenario mirrors this global effort, with Nitin Gadkari, the Minister of Road Transport and Highways, emphasising on road safety and aiming to cut accident deaths by half by 2030.

In the backdrop of this, it may sound uncommon for two techies in the U.S. to dedicate themselves to improving global road safety. But despite the lack of precedence, Stanford alumni and former Qualcomm colleagues Avneesh Agrawal and David Julian embarked on this mission.

They incorporated Netradyne Technology in 2015 to build tech that analyses driving behaviour in real-time and reduce driver errors and the risk of accidents through automated coaching.

Its vision-based Driver•i safety camera system uses cutting-edge technologies powered by Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Edge Computing to create a new safe driving standard for commercial vehicles. With inward and outward high-definition cameras on the same IoT device, Driver•i empowers drivers by providing awareness of risky driving behaviour and rewarding safe driving practices.

It analyses 100% of driving time, detecting any driving behaviour that could lead to an accident. This includes over-speeding, driver drowsiness and fatigue, distracted driving, and tailgating, among others, and coaches drivers in real-time. In addition, to incentivise safe driving, the device recognises positive behaviours and rewards drivers with “driver stars” — a gamification element that builds a positive driver profile.

Netradyne is a global company with operations in India, the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the U.K., Australia, New Zealand and Germany. 

From Gaming Box To Deep Algorithms 

“When we started out in 2015, there was no established provider who could combine AI with video telematics to create a solution that could detect, reason, and determine the causality of events. Netradyne stepped in to fill this gap,” said Agrawal.

Netradyne has pooled over 13 Bn miles of proprietary driving data to develop its state-of-the-art analytics models. This massive dataset is the secret sauce behind its machine learning algorithms, which boast a decision accuracy of up to 99%, according to Julian. More importantly, Netradyne has built its AI system from scratch using this unique data.

“Deep tech and innovation are part of Netradyne’s DNA,” Agrawal continued, noting that both founders have over 300 patents combined. According to NASSCOM’s ‘Patenting Trends in India Edition 2024,’ Netradyne is one of the top patent filers among deeptech startups in India.

However, building a tech startup from the ground up was not easy, and the founders faced their fair share of challenges along the way. With a global vision from the outset, Agrawal and Julian constantly connected across different continents and time zones, working tirelessly to solidify their concept. They invested their own capital, rented office space in both India, where Agrawal worked, and the U.S., where Julian worked, and began building their team – most of whom are still with Netradyne today.

Many of the early employees, including office staff, have stayed with Netradyne over the years and have risen to leadership positions. The startup has inculcated a philosophy of innovation, resilience and a dynamic approach since the beginning, which the founders believe also trickles down to employee values.

A good example of this philosophy is how the small team turned adversity into an opportunity during the development of their dataset. The founders quickly realised they needed custom hardware to truly address driver safety. Building their own would take another year or two, Julian explained.

So, they got resourceful. They purchased a set-top box with an NVIDIA processor and used it to run deep learning algorithms in real-time. “We even got a mobile phone and mounted it on the windshield for LTE connectivity, outward and inward cameras, and accelerometer/gyro sensors,” Julian added. (LTE stands for Long-Term Evolution, a standard that improves internet speed for mobile devices).

“To get everything working, our cloud team set up the cloud infrastructure. This allowed us to use a mobile phone for the camera. Since I have a background in deep learning and wireless communication, we sent the data to the GPU on the set-top box for processing and video storage over WI-FI. Finally, WIFI was used to send the processed data back to the mobile phone and then over LTE back to the cloud,” said Julian.

This strategic approach proved successful. It validated the concept and gave the founders the confidence to scale up. With a functional prototype, the founders initiated demos for potential customers and investors, receiving positive feedback. Today, the platform runs a full-fledged cloud repository for data storage, real-time tracking, driver evaluation, and training.

How Netradyne’s AI Wins Driver Trust

The founders believe this system can significantly benefit driver exoneration in cases where the driver is not at fault. Since the camera captures both the driver’s actions and the vehicle’s movement on the road, it provides irrefutable proof in situations where the driver may be unfairly blamed.

“Commercial vehicles tend to be blamed for road accidents. However, more often than not, they are not at fault. This solution addresses that challenge and provides proof,” said Julian.

Netradyne claims that Driver•i has assessed over 13 Bn miles of driving data (driver behaviour, road and traffic patterns) and is clocking more than 600 Mn miles of data every month globally.

Given that the size of data defines the success of any AI system, the availability of such rich data makes Netradyne’s AI highly accurate and precise. The founders emphasised that this is crucial to minimising the number of false alerts for drivers, ultimately gaining their confidence in the technology.

Today, Netradyne maintains a customer base exceeding 3,000 globally, including prominent entities such as IndianOil Skytanking, GreenLine Mobility, Writer Safeguard, CJ Darcl, First Student and Loomis. This extensive network not only solidifies Netradyne’s global footprint but also reinforces its pivotal role in tackling the critical challenge of road safety on a monumental scale. And much like its SaaS peers, Netradyne charges a monthly subscription for its solution, which includes both hardware and software.

Speaking to Inc42, the founders reported revenue of INR 1,000 Cr ARR as of December 2023 and anticipate a 50% year-on-year growth in the current calendar year.

The company has raised $227 Mn across three funding rounds from investors such as Reliance, M12, SoftBank Vision Fund, and Point72 Venture Investments. These funds are being used to drive R&D, enhance core technology, and enter new markets. 

Driving Success With In-House Talent & Tech Expertise

Netradyne is aiming to revolutionise the world of vehicle safety technology by harnessing the power of in-house talent and cutting-edge technological expertise. With sophisticated test labs in India and the U.S., its hardware design and software development teams collaborate seamlessly across borders, with Bengaluru serving as the hub for innovation.

CEO Agrawal recognises the importance of tapping into the best talent worldwide.

“AI talent is very strong in the U.S., but we are also seeing a rapidly growing crop of tech talent in India,” Agrawal explains. This approach allows Netradyne to assemble a diverse team capable of tackling complex challenges.

“An illustrative example of our system’s impact is a case where a driver’s low GreenZone score prompted their spouse to intervene. The spouse’s insistence on safety improvement led to the driver becoming the fleet’s top performer within a month! This highlights the positive influence families can have in encouraging safe driving habits, especially in a profession fraught with danger,” said Agrawal,

For context, Netradyne’s GreenZone is a driver scoring system that assesses individual driving habits and associated behaviour. It is a data-driven approach that provides a quantifiable score by analysing every second of driving. To enable this, the system utilises computer-vision technologies and AI cameras with inbuilt sensors, gyrometer and accelerometers to collect data on driving habits.

The Road Ahead: Connected Vehicle Safety

According to Mordor Intelligence, the global market size for video telematics device installations is projected to surge from 8.3 Mn units in 2024 to 18.8 Mn by 2029, exhibiting a robust CAGR of 17.9% during this period. 

Moreover, the demand for AI-enabled video analytics is steadily escalating, driven by its myriad benefits such as accident prevention, enhanced driver engagement, instantaneous incident notification, and diminished operational costs.

With human error still a major culprit in road accidents, accounting for nearly 94% according to a ResearchGate report, companies like Netradyne offer a crucial solution. By providing real-time feedback, they empower drivers with vital insights beyond their field of view. This real-time coaching fosters better decision-making and a heightened sense of awareness, ultimately leading to safer roads and fewer accidents.

While the penetration of video telematics in trucks stands at around 10-15% in the U.S. and notably lower in India, Agrawal and Julian remain bullish about its rapid uptake in both of these countries as well as other geographies. The founders have already seen a shift, observing that major fleet owners grasp the paramount importance of road and driver safety, and are thus receptive to embracing Netradyne’s solutions.

Having made significant strides in preempting road accidents, it now sets its sights on entering the ‘prediction’ phase to anticipate potential incidents based on the large set of data that analyses the entire road ecosystem on the edge. To this end, it will leverage a foundational driving model utilising large language models (LLMs) based on its proprietary dataset.

Nonetheless, the market presents its share of challenges. Netradyne contends with competition from established players like Lytx and Samsara in California, alongside few India-based providers. However, the founders believe that their innovation: Highly precise and accurate AI algorithms and in-house end-to-end product capabilities set them apart. 

As a startup navigating the convergence of AI-enabled technological disruptions and an expansive market opportunity, Netradyne finds itself positioned at a critical juncture. While the widespread adoption of self-driving vehicles remains years away, the video telematics landscape is poised to flourish, offering a secure passage for human drivers in the interim.

The post How Netradyne Technology Uses AI In Real Time To Reduce Road Accidents By 50% appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Ride-hailing major Uber is bringing back its high-end Uber Black service to India as the company focuses on upgrading its services to cater to the premium segment.

This service is expected to be rolled out in the next few weeks, starting with some localities in Mumbai.

Uber Black is a service in its high-end black cars, with highly rated and professional chauffeurs.

An Uber spokesperson told Inc42, “There is a critical mass of travellers that are willing to pay a premium for on-demand services that give them high end experience and as Uber caters to a full spectrum of riders with different mobility needs, we are responding to this growing demand.”

The development was reported by the Economic Times first.

“Uber Black will be priced comparatively 30-40% more than its existing high-end service Uber Premier, and the company expects it to have a huge traction with corporate travel use cases,” a source was quoted while saying in the report.

In 2013, the company started its India operations with Uber Black, under which high-end cars such as Mercedes, BMW and Audi were available on demand. Back then, Uber replaced these luxury cars with models such as Toyota Innova, Honda City and Toyota Corolla, which was later stalled the following year due to limited purchasing power of consumers.

To blend with the consumers’ preferences, in 2014, Uber launched its low cost cab booking service UberGo in India, with its base fare starting at INR 40, further priced at INR 12/Km (Delhi) and increasing by INR 1 per minute. 

UberGo has a new range of hatchbacks as part of its fleet, comprising Tata Indica Vista, Nissan Micra and Maruti Suzuki Swift.

With the persistently high inflation spiking the price bands of groceries to grooming, consumers have now become well-adjusted to higher spending and are open to adapting the style of luxury services.

The revamped version of Uber Black and Uber Black SUV will be a far more sustainable model where customers will be provided with a white glove cab service in bigger cars than currently available commercial sedans, one of the sources was quoted as saying in the report.

The source also said that the sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) and multi-utility vehicles (MUVs) of Toyota, MG and others will be part of the Uber Black service.

The ride-hailing giant’s chief executive officer Dara Khosrowshahi earlier this year said that India has been one of the toughest markets to crack.

Ola’s competitor in India has been on trend to meet its consumers’ demand.

For instance, the company launched UberGo, when it saw the pinch in consumer spending, and the rising interests on public transport led to bringing in Uber shuttle rides.

The recent introduction being Uber Green with the mounting likes over electric vehicles, in November 2023.

Updated at 11:43 AM

The post Uber Looking To Bring Back Its High-End Service ‘Black’ To India To Cater To Premium Segment appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In a major setback for Rapido, the Karnataka Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) has reportedly held that the ride hailing unicorn is liable to pay goods and service tax for its cab services.

“The applicant (Rapido’s parent company Roppen Transportation) is liable to pay GST on the supply of services provided by the independent four-wheeler cab service provider (person who has subscribed to the applicant’s Rapido app) to his passengers on the applicant’s app platform, being an ecommerce operator, in terms of Section 9 (5) of the CGST Act 2017,” the ARR order was quoted as saying by ET.

As part of the hearing, Rapido submitted that it charges its drivers a subscription instead of a commission, without making any revenue on the fare.

It is pertinent to note that the retrospective ruling will open Rapido to previous tax dues on its cab services. 

This also comes at a time when Rapido turned unicorn after raising a funding of $120 Mn from its existing investor WestBridge Capital at a post-money valuation of a little over $1 Bn. 

Last year in December, it entered the cab booking services category with the launch of Rapido Cabs. The Swiggy-backed company then said it had a fleet of around 1 Lakh cabs on its platform and the service is currently operational across Delhi NCR, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. 

Inc42 has reached out to Rapido for comments on the development. The story will be updated based on the response. 

This Karnataka ARR further adds to the ambiguity regarding the GST applicability on the ride-hailing companies operating via a subscription model with their drivers and service providers. 

Contrary to this ruling, the Karnataka ARR ruled in favour of  Namma Yatri which offers a subscription-based model to its driver-partners, allowing it to not pay GST.

In the case involving Juspay Technologies, the company behind the Namma Yatri mobility platform, the AAR relied on the dictionary definition of the word “through.” It concluded that merely linking service providers with customers via a digital platform does not constitute a supply of service and is thus not subject to tax.

The same Karnataka authority had previously issued an opposite ruling in the case of Opta Cabs Pvt Ltd. Additionally, the Tamil Nadu Advance Ruling Authority, in a recent decision regarding Balat Enterprises Pvt Ltd, held that the company, which provides a platform for small business owners to connect with customers, is liable to discharge tax under Section 9(5) of the CGST law for specified services.

Not to mention, these ride-hailing platforms incur a 5% GST on the fair for rides they facilitate through the commission model.

However, under the subscription model, these platforms charge a daily or weekly fee to driver partners to avail of the offerings given by ride-hailing platforms like getting recognised by customers. 

This development comes against the backdrop of other major players like Ola and Uber introducing their subscription-based models for their three-wheeler booking services.

Meanwhile, earlier this month it was also reported that platforms such as Uber have approached the finance ministry seeking clarity on if their business was liable to incur indirect tax or not. 

Earlier this year, the Karnataka transport department fixed uniform fares for all taxis plying in the state, including metre-based taxis. Under the new regime, the app-based cab aggregators will not be able to levy surge charges to customers during peak hours.

These app-based cab services have also been scrutinised by other state governments, like those in Delhi and Maharashtra, for various reasons

The post Rapido Liable To Pay GST For Its Cab Services: Karnataka AAR appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Ride-hailing startup Rapido has bagged a funding of $120 Mn (about INR 1,000 Cr) from existing investor WestBridge Capital at a post-money valuation of a little over $1 Bn.

The investor poured in the fresh capital by participating in Rapido’s Series E funding round through three of its related entities – Setu AIF Trust, Konark Trust, and MMPL Trust, as per regulatory filings.

Rapido’s parent entity Roppen Transportation Services Pvt Ltd allotted 95,479  Series E compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) and 95,489 Series E1 CCPS to the three WestBridge Capital entities on July 18. This cumulatively translates to INR 1,002.00 Cr.

Of this, the startup has received about INR 500 Cr, while the remaining amount will be received when called upon. 

With this, the startup has become the third unicorn of 2024 and 116th Indian unicorn. Krutrim AI and Perfios are the two other startups which entered the unicorn club earlier this year. 

Meanwhile, ET reported that Rapido is in talks with investors to raise another $20 Mn. “A US-based family office and a UK-based fund are in talks to pick up stakes in the company,” a person aware of the matter was quoted as saying. 

Inc42 has reached out to Rapido for a comment on the development. The story will be updated on receiving a response. 

Rapido counts the likes of Swiggy, TVS Motors, Nexus Ventures, and Shell Ventures among its investors. The bike taxi startup last raised $180 Mn in a funding round led by Swiggy in participation from TVS Motors, WestBridge Capital, Nexus Ventures, and Shell Ventures back in April 2022. 

Founded in 2015 by Rishikesh SR, Pavan Guntupalli, and Aravind Sanka, the startup  primarily operates in the bike taxi and auto transportation segments. In December last year, it also launched cab services in some cities. In addition, it also offers peer-to-peer delivery services via Rapido Local. 

On the financial front, Rapido’s net loss widened more than 50% to INR 674.5 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 439 Cr loss in the previous fiscal year. Operating revenue shot up 3.05X to INR 443 Cr from INR 144.8 Cr in FY22.

The post Rapido Enters Unicorn Club By Raising $120 Mn From WestBridge Capital appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Run by Bengaluru-based Zinka Logistics Solutions, BlackBuck, an online marketplace for truckers and freight operators, is the latest to join the list of new-age tech startups preparing for public market entry in 2024. Backed by Peak XV, Accel, Tiger Global and other noted investors, the logistics unicorn recently filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with capital market regulator SEBI for an INR 550 Cr+ IPO. 

The issue will be a mix of new shares worth INR 550 Cr and an OFS (offer for sale) of up to 2.16 Cr shares from promoters and existing investors. The three cofounders of BlackBuck intend to offload 44.37 Lakh shares during the public market listing.

The IPO aspirant aims to utilise the proceeds to strengthen its sales and marketing initiatives and grow its NBFC subsidiary, BlackBuck Finserve. 

As many as six new-age tech startups have listed in the current calendar year – four on the mainboard and two on the SME platform – raising over INR 5,598 Cr ($670 Mn). In all cases, shares exceeded the initial pricing range, highlighting the typical rush for IPOs in the Indian stock market. It also gives us a sense of déjà vu, bringing back to mind the 2021 startup IPO market, although with a few twists and turns, including smaller IPO sizes and more reasonable valuations. 

Lately, IPOs in India have become more attractive with heavy retail participation, and several companies have been listed at a premium. Per a Fortune India report, 70% of the 30 main-board IPOs were listed at a premium, followed by 72% (out of 54 IPOs) in FY22 and 67% (out of 37 IPOs) in FY23. Interestingly, in the first nine months of FY24, 78% of the 54 main-board IPOs were listed at a premium.

Ola Electric, Swiggy, FirstCry and Unicommerce are among the most-awaited IPOs of the year, but these are still at various stages of preparation. A few others, like BlackBuck and Avanse Financial Services, are out with their DRHPs without any prior hint.

BlackBuck: Ushering In The Digital Drive To Redefine Road Freight

Before we weigh in the potential risks and rewards of the BlackBuck IPO, it will be pertinent to look at the company’s operations and how its business model stacks up against the country’s leading logistics players. 

Founded in 2015 by IIT Kharagpur alumni Rajesh Yabaji and Chanakya Hridaya, along with Rama Subramaniam, the B2B marketplace specialises in inter-city full truckload (FTL) transportation. In simple terms, it seamlessly connects truck operators with small and big businesses with shipping requirements in real time via its tech-enabled platform and operates pan-India. 

Although BlackBuck started as a truck aggregator, it currently provides a comprehensive range of solutions for load management, telematics, payment (fuel and FASTag or toll charges) and vehicle financing (with a focus on trucks). 

It has an asset-light business model and generates revenue through platform fees, subscriptions and commissions (more on its business fundamentals later). The startup has raised over $360 Mn in funding and directly competes with Wheelseye, Vahak and FleetX Loconav, digital freight platforms catering to truckers in India. 

BlackBuck says it is the largest digital freight platform for truckers in terms of revenue, accounting for 27% of the domestic market share. India’s road freight transport market, estimated at $140.3 Bn in 2024, is expected to reach $236.3 Bn by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 9.08% during the forecast period. 

As road transportation, especially trucking, continues to grow due to increased economic activities and improved infrastructure, ventures like BlackBuck will likely witness exponential growth as a core component of India’s booming logistics industry.       

The startup also claims to service the maximum number of truck operators. In FY24, it had 9.6 Lakh transacting users on the platform, accounting for 27.52% of the truckers in India, it said. 

Over the years, many Indian logistics companies, including Blue Dart Express, Allcargo Gati, VRL Logistics and Delhivery, have taken the IPO route to grow their capital base and expand their business. Although part of their operations covers the FTL market, where BlackBuck is a specialist, the latter is the first to go ahead with a unique value proposition – providing a digital edge to the highly fragmented road freight transportation space.

Speaking to Inc42, an analyst at a brokerage firm said it could be a bit early to discuss BlackBuck’s IPO prospects, given the pending SEBI nod. However, it has a more ‘mature’ business model and stands out from the rest of its listed and unlisted peers in the trucking/logistics market.

There is a catch, though, the analyst pointed out, requesting not to be named. “BlackBuck is a B2B tech company helping truckers leverage the on-demand economy and shaping the future of freight. Considering its multi-pronged approach, this narrative is a bit more complicated than Zomato or Nykaa, the [B2C] platforms people used regularly and understood their businesses better. In this case, investors may require more time to comprehend the entire business model or the long-term value proposition. But as I have said, it is too early to gauge the market sentiment,” he explained. 

Meanwhile, BlackBuck’s profitability at the operating level positions the company well for the public markets, the analyst added.

A Deep Dive Into BlackBuck’s Fundamentals Reveals The Pros & Cons

As per its DRHP, BlackBuck was a loss-making entity and reported INR 194 Cr in net losses in FY24. But compared to the previous financial year, this was a 33% drop from the INR 290.4 Cr loss posted in FY23, marking a significant improvement.  

Meanwhile, it turned profitable at an operating level in FY24 with an adjusted EBITDA of INR 13.3 Cr against a loss of INR 154.5 Cr in FY23.  

The startup said its adjusted EBITDA showed restated loss before tax from continuing operations, adjusted for finance costs, depreciation and amortisation expenses, employee share-based payment expenses and other net gains/losses. Its other net gains/losses amounted to nought in the reported year.

BlackBuck’s EBITDA loss stood at INR 138.8 Cr in FY24, but its operating revenue jumped 69% YoY to INR 296.9 Cr during that year. 

A close look at the startup’s revenue channels and its parent company’s business commitments will further clarify how the venture is faring overall.

BlackBuck generates revenue from its payment solutions for toll taxes and fuel charges, deployment of telematics (remote monitoring of vehicles) data to truck owners, vehicle financing and other service fees. 

A significant portion of its operating revenue comes from commissions (incomes from banks and oil marketing companies for the distribution and management of FASTags and fuel cards, respectively) and subscriptions for telematics-based fleet management and platform services. Its overall revenue from trucking services stood at INR 296.1 Cr in FY24, growing nearly 69% YoY.

Its parent entity, Zinka Logistics, runs other subsidiaries, including TZF Logistics Solutions, BlackBuck Finserve, ZZ Logistics Solutions and BlackBuck Netherlands B.V. 

Among these, BlackBuck Finserve received its non-deposit-taking NBFC licence on August 1, 2023, and commenced lending in October last year. It provides financing solutions for various assets such as plants and machinery and vehicles like buses and trucks.

In its DRHP, BlackBuck states that the vehicle financing business (backed by BFPL and its finance partners) enables truck operators to buy used commercial vehicles or get financing on existing ones. With this model in place, the startup generates revenues from interest incomes and loan processing fees.

The logistics major is too keen to pursue this revenue channel, as its draft filing reveals. 

As per its DRHP, the net proceeds invested in the NBFC subsidiary will be used to finance the augmentation of its capital base to meet its future capital requirements and not towards further acquisitions or repayments of its existing loans.

This approach is understandable since Indian think tank NITI Aayog estimates that the number of trucks on Indian roads will quadruple, from 4 Mn in 2022 to 17 Mn by 2050. With the concept of Vikshit Bharat set to culminate by 2047 and fuel India’s economic growth, the country’s core development areas, like manufacturing and supply chain logistics, are set to gain unprecedented momentum. This will throw open new growth opportunities for ventures like BlackBuck looking to finance different asset types, from infrastructural facilities and components to road freight essentials.

As of March 31, 2024, the NBFC arm disbursed 4,035 loans totalling INR 196.8 Cr. The interest income contributed around 0.23% to BlackBuck’s total consolidated revenue from operations in FY24. The finance and payments businesses contributed 45.26% to the startup’s consolidated operating revenue in FY24.

On the flip side, BlackBuck noted in its DRHP that any regulatory changes in the payment ecosystem or electronic toll collection technologies, among a few other global policy-related shifts, could have a material adverse effect on its payments and telematics business, which contributed to more than 94% to its consolidated operating revenue in FY24. 

The Road To Riches Will Be A Litmus Test   

Supported by a clutch of marquee investors such as Peak XV, Tiger Global, Tribe Capital, IFC Emerging  Asia Fund, VEF, Goldman Sachs Investment Partners and Accel, BlackBuck emerged as a unicorn in 2021.

After building a strong foothold in the trucking and logistics industry for nine years and undergoing bumpy rides to achieve a billion-dollar valuation, BlackBuck is finally ready to leap forward and go public when several other prominent household names are also on track for an IPO.

But more than the tussle for market attention, BlackBuck needs to get its house in order. The startup has civil, tax and criminal proceedings against the company, its promoters and its directors worth INR 277.2 Cr. Among these, one litigation worth INR 275.8 Cr involves a company director.

Still, what matters most is the ultimate litmus test. A blessing of tech unicorns is leaning towards initial public offerings now that private capital has grown scarce due to a harsh funding winter. Capital market investors, on the other hand, are genuinely excited to see high-growth startups making their debut. However, profit remains the prerequisite for success in today’s market scenario, and people can soon pull their money out without solid business outcomes.     

[Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal]

The post How BlackBuck’s Trucking & Freight Tech Stack Carried It To The IPO Milestone appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Last week, logistics unicorn BlackBuck became the latest new-age tech startup to file its initial public offering (IPO) amid the IPO frenzy. 

According to the startup’s draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), its IPO will comprise a fresh issue of shares worth INR 550 Cr and an offer for sale (OFS) component of up to 2.16 Cr shares. 

The Flipkart-backed startup aims to deploy INR 140 Cr from the IPO proceeds in its non-banking financial company (NBFC) subsidiary BlackBuck Finserv. However, the largest chunk of capital, INR 200 Cr, will be utilised for sales and marketing activities. Besides, the startup will also spend on product development and general corporate purposes.

Founded in 2015 by Rajesh Kumar Naidu Yabaji, Chanakya Hridaya and Ramasubramanian Balasubramaniam, BlackBuck operates an online B2B marketplace for inter-city full truck load (FTL) transportation. Its platform provides payment options, loads marketplace, and vehicle financing services to truck operators in the country. 

It claims to be the largest online trucking platform in India, accounting for 27% market share of all truck operators.

The startup is backed by the likes of Accel India, Flipkart’s subsidiary Quickroutes, and Peak XV Partners. 

A Look At BlackBuck’s Cap Table

The company’s oldest backer, venture capital firm Accel India, is the leading stakeholder in the company. It holds a 17.07% stake, or 2.83 Cr shares, in the startup. Under its Accel India IV fund, the firm owns 14.06% stake in the company, while Accel Growth Fund V holds 3.01% stake. 

The VC firm is the only shareholder with a stake in excess of 15%. It is pertinent to note that it co-led the startup’s $80 Mn Series D round in 2019.

The second largest stakeholder in the startup is Flipkart’s subsidiary Quickroutes International, which holds 12.97% stake. Flipkart first invested in the startup in 2015, when it participated in its $25 Mn Series B round.

The three founders come in next in terms of shareholding. While Hridaya owns 10.68% stake in Blackbuck, Yabaji and Balasubramaniam hold 10.67% stake each. 

International Finance Corporation (IFC), Sands Capital, Goldman Sachs (GSAM Holdings), Tiger Global, Tribe Capital, Peak XV partners, and Cayman (Ithan Creek Master Investors) are the other prominent stakeholders in the company. 

The Decision-Makers At BlackBuck 

The three founders, Yabaji, Balasubramaniam, and Hridaya, are also the promoters of BlackBuck. 

Out of the three, Yabaji is the chairman, managing director and CEO of Blackbuck. Balasubramaniam and Hridaya act as Head-New Initiatives and COO, respectively, besides being the executive directors of the startup.  

BlackBuck’s board also has five non-executive independent directors. The list includes Jana Capital MD and CEO Rajamani Muthuchamy, Kinara Capital founder and CEO Hardika Shah, Spinny CEO Niraj Singh, Zomato chairman and independent director Kaushik Dutta, and Accel partner Anand Daniel.

The startup’s operations are driven by a team of 12 members, led by CEO Yabaji. Here are the brief profiles of the team. 

Rajesh Kumar Naidu Yabaji – MD & CEO

After completing a four-year stint leading the technical function of ITC’s foods division business, the IIT Kharagpur graduate linked up with his two cofounders to set up BlackBuck in 2015. 

Chanakya Hridaya – COO

Like Yabaji, Hridaya also completed his education from IIT Kharagpur. He has a bachelor’s degree in technology in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in manufacturing science and engineering. Prior to starting BlackBuck, he worked as an assistant manager in the supply chain division of ITC for about two years.

Ramasubramaniam Balasubramaniam – Head of New Initiatives

Balasubramaniam holds a post graduate diploma in business management. He has about 27 years of experience. Besides BlackBuck, he is also associated with supply chain company Miebach Consulting India. 

Satyakam G N – CFO

Chartered accountant Satyakam Naik joined the logistics major in 2018 as a business finance manager. He climbed the ranks to become the chief financial officer of the startup during his tenure. According to his LinkedIn profile, his current role encompasses managing all functions of finance, including accounting, business finance, and treasury. He has had prior stints in NTT Data Services and Tesco HSC. 

Thejasvi Bhat – CTO

Bhat joined the startup in 2020 after nearly three engagements with Swiggy, where he led the foodtech major’s engineering function as well as growth and new initiatives. He also worked with HolidayIQ.com, snapThings, among others, during his near two-decade long career. 

Manish Singh – Chief Product Officer

The IIT Kanpur graduate joined the startup in 2018 as its head of management after completing a near four-year stint with ride-hailing major Ola. He also worked with software giant Infosys and IDS Software in his two-decade long career. Besides, he cofounded two startups – Gazoi Store and CAT India Online. 

Shilpi Pandey – Chief People Officer

The XLRI Jamshedpur alumnus joined the startup in 2016 and has been supervising the overall strategy formulation and management of BlackBuck’s human resources operations since then. She also worked in the people functions of Common Floor, Photon Interactive, and Aditya Birla’s Madura Fashion and Lifestyle in her 21-year-long HR career. 

Supil Chachan – Business Head, Marketplace

Chachan currently serves as the vice president of freight marketplace for the startup, having joined BlackBuck in 2018. Earlier, the IIM Bangalore alumni worked with Jindal Stainless, Tata Power Solar Systems, Tata Administrative Services, among others.

Chandra Prakash – National Sales Head

Prakash joined the startup as a senior VP – national sales head, market channel, after a four-year stint with Ola as its VP. He has also worked with Airtel, Tata Teleservices, and HUL in his 23-year-long career. 

Prakash Bajirao Mali – National Head-Vehicle Finance

Prior to joining BlackBuck in 2022, Mali worked with financial institutions like IndusInd Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited in the field of sales and business development in commercial vehicle loans. 

Barun Pandey – Company Secretary and Legal Head

Pandey joined the company only last month as its company secretary and compliance officer. He is a company secretary from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, and has over 8 years of work experience.

The post BlackBuck DRHP: A Deeper Look Into The Logistics Unicorn’s Cap Table And C-Suite appeared first on Inc42 Media.

IPO-bound logistics unicorn BlackBuck continues to be plagued by high attrition. The Flipkart-backed startup recorded an attrition rate of 41.08% in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24).

This, however, was a decline from 44.01% attrition rate in FY23, as per BlackBuck’s draft red herring prospectus (DRHP).

As of March 31, 2024, the startup had a total of 1,783 permanent employees. Besides, it engaged 3,638 contract workers, as per the DRHP. 

The startup also highlighted the high attrition rate as one of the risk factors.

“Our continued success is dependent on our employees, key management personnel and senior management personnel. We have faced high attrition among our employees in the past and our inability to attract and retain employees, key management personnel or the loss of services of our senior management personnel in the future may have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition,” it said.

The competition for qualified personnel with relevant industry expertise in India is intense. The company faces significant competition in hiring and retaining appropriately qualified individuals, and there is no assurance of success in these efforts, BlackBuck said. 

This challenge may impact the company’s ability to expand its business, potentially leading to a decline in revenues, the DRHP added. 

Additionally, recruiting new employees who require training tailored to the company’s business operations, as well as providing training to existing employees on internal policies, procedures, and systems, can be costly in terms of time, money, and resources. 

“Our inability to attract and retain talented professionals, or the resignation or loss of such professionals, may have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition,” it disclosed.

Founded in 2015 by Rajesh Yabaji, Chanakya Hridaya and Rama Subramaniam operates a digital platform for truck operators. It provides payments and telematics services to truck operators. Besides, it operates a loads marketplace, which matches truck operators with shippers, and facilitates vehicle financing.

The startup filed its DRHP last week with SEBI. Its public issue will comprise a fresh issuance of shares worth INR 550 Cr and an offer for sale (OFS) component of up to 2.16 Cr shares (2,16,09,022 to be precise). 

BlackBuck narrowed its net loss by 33% to INR 193.9 Cr in the year ended March 2024 from INR 290 Cr in the previous year. Revenue from operations soared 69% to INR 296.9 Cr in FY24 from INR 175.6 Cr in the previous year. 

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IPO-bound logistics startup BlackBuck managed to narrow its loss by over 30% in the financial year ended March 31, 2024 (FY24) on the back of a strong business growth. The Bengaluru-based startup incurred a net loss of INR 194 Cr in FY24, a decline of 33% from INR 290.4 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

The startup’s operating revenue zoomed 69% to INR 296.9 Cr during the year under review from INR 175.6 Cr in FY23. It primarily earns revenue by offering payments services, telematics, load marketplace, and vehicle financing services on its platform. 

Including other income, total revenue jumped 62% to INR 316.5 Cr in FY24 from INR 195 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Where Did BlackBuck Spend?

Total expenditure rose 12% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 483.4 Cr in FY24, much lower than the growth in the operating revenue. The startup’s expenditure stood at INR 431.7 Cr in FY23.

Employee Expenses: The startup’s employee benefit expenditure stood at INR 286.9 Cr in FY24, an increase of 31% from INR 219.5 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Employee benefit expenses comprise employee salaries, PF contribution, among others. 

It must be noted that the startup had an employee attrition of 41.08% in FY24, with a total employee count of 1,783. 

Manpower Services: The cost under this head dropped 12% to INR 97 Cr from INR 110 Cr in FY23. 

BlackBuck filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) last week. 

The Flipkart-backed logistics unicorn’s initial public offering (IPO) will comprise a fresh issue of shares worth INR 550 Cr and an offer for sale (OFS) component of up to 2.16 Cr shares (2,16,09,022 to be precise). 

BlackBuck’s cofounders – Rajesh Yabaji, Chanakya Hridaya and Rama Subramaniam – will together will offload 44.37 Lakh shares via the OFS. While Yabaji will dump 22.18 Lakh shares, the two other cofounders will sell 11.09 Lakh shares each. 

Existing shareholders like Flipkart, Accel, and Tiger Global will also offload the shares via the OFS.

The startup plans to utilise the net proceeds from the IPO for general corporate purposes, fueling sales and marketing initiatives and for product development.

BlackBuck, which was founded in 2015, has raised a total funding of over $360 Mn till date. It competes against the likes of Shiprocket, WheelsEye, ElasticRun, and Rivigo. 

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Flipkart-backed logistics unicorn BlackBuck has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for its initial public offering (IPO). 

The public issue will comprise a fresh issuance of shares worth INR 550 Cr and an offer for sale (OFS) component of up to 2.16 Cr shares (2,16,09,022 to be precise). 

BlackBuck’s three cofounders Rajesh Yabaji, Chanakya Hridaya and Rama Subramaniam together will offload 44.37 Lakh shares under the OFS portion. While Yabaji will dump 22.18 Lakh shares, other two cofounders will sell 11.09 Lakh shares each. 

The OFS will also see:

• Accel India cumulatively sell 52.32 Lakh shares 
• Flipkart subsidiary Quickroutes International offloading 39.73 Lakh shares
• Tiger Global offloading 8.83 Lakh shares 
• International Finance Corporation selling 17.11 Lakh shares 
• Sands Capital sell 13.24 Lakh shares 
• GSAM Holdings offload 9.27 Lakh shares

As per the DRHP, BlackBuck plans to utilise the fresh proceeds from the IPO to meet the future capital requirements of its non-banking financial company (NBFC) arm BlackBuck Finserv.

Incorporated in 2019, the lending arm of the unicorn offers vehicle financing to truck operators in seven states across the country. 

 A big chunk of the funds will also be deployed for general corporate purposes, fueling sales and marketing initiatives and for product development.

The shares of the logistics unicorns will be listed on both the BSE as well as the NSE.

The logistics startup has filed its IPO papers just a month after its parent company, Zinka Logistics Solutions, received the board and shareholder nod to turn into a public company. At the time, it was reported that the Flipkart-backed platform was planning to go public later this financial year 2024-25 (FY25) and was eyeing to raise as much as $300 Mn.

Founded in 2015 by Yabaji, Hridaya and Subramaniam, BlackBuck operates an online B2B marketplace for inter-city full truck load (FTL) transportation. It claims to be the largest online trucking platform in India, accounting for 27% market share of all truck operators.

Backed by the likes of Peak XV and Goldman Sachs, the startup has raised more than $360 Mn in funding till date. It last secured $67 Mn in a round led by Tribe Capital, IFC Emerging Asia Fund and VEF to enter the unicorn club in 2021. 

As per the startup’s DRHP, the platform saw more than 9.63 Lakh truckers transact on the platform in FY24. 

The logistics platform trimmed its losses by 33% to INR 193.9 Cr in the year ended March 2024 compared to INR 290 Cr in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, revenue from operations soared 69% to INR 296.9 Cr in FY24 as against FY23’s INR 175.6 Cr. 

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Imagine you are an ecommerce entrepreneur who just hit the jackpot. Your products are flying off the shelves and people from all over the world are queuing up to buy your latest releases. 

Thanks to the marvels of modern logistics technology, you’re no longer limited to a nationwide customer base. Expanding beyond borders has helped you outgrow competitors but the challenges that come with cross-border shipping can make you feel like you’re playing an endless game of ‘whack-a-mole.’

According to Technavio, the cross-border supply chain market will reach $67.22 Bn at 12.54% CAGR by 2027. This exponential increase will indicate top-shelf supply chain service providers alongside the obstacles in their journey. 

So, what are these bottlenecks and why are they unfavourable for B2B, B2C, and D2C brands? 

Challenges And Solutions Of Cross-Border Logistics

Challenges abound in cross-border logistics as they occur due to several reasons but one can overcome these by counting on the fruitful solutions listed below.  

Challenge 1: Custom Obligations

Customs have a set of meticulous rules and laws with which they operate. Think of them as the gatekeepers of everything that goes around. Managing customs well requires an in-depth knowledge of the regulations and prerequisites and a knack for handling complex documentation for faster clearance.

Solution: Tie-ups with customs officials can save time, effort, and money. They are well-versed with international laws and compliances and have experience with paperwork. Many B2B companies automate customs clearance to speed up the process and get things right every time.

Challenge 2: Reverse Logistics

Reverse logistics can be nerve-racking as it necessitates a smooth backward supply chain process for an order. A report by Straitsresearch states, the global reverse logistics market is expected to hit $831.3 Bn by 2030, meaning, brands must pick up the pace to better manage returns.

Solution: An automated returns process is the name of the game for businesses looking to strengthen reverse logistics infrastructure. They are unlikely to jump ship looking for alternatives when they can benefit from an all-inclusive dashboard to view order information in real-time. This gives complete control of the process to the manufacturers.

Challenge 3: Unserviceable Locations

Within the labyrinthine algorithms of every cross-border logistics partner’s network, lie unreachable geographies that affect the respective businesses associated. Customers seeking deliveries from remote locations undergo delays due to maps that are not easily recognised. For example, Australians are highly receptive to shipping challenges because of belonging to remote locations.

Solution: To solve this problem, brands must turn to robust overseas networking with multi-modal shipping and efficient visibility technology. They should also use GPS and RFID systems to connect with customers in the most unfindable places. Based on the report from the Material Handling Institute, supply chain companies with RFID support gained 100% accuracy in shipping tasks.

Challenge 4: Currency Exchange 

Currency exchange is a concern and a formidable challenge for businesses. Currency rates keep changing and merchants often struggle to retrieve the accurate transfer of funds from a secured framework. Moreover, various risks accompany international transactions.

Solution: Diversify currencies and offer multiple payment gateways to enable customers to make secure payments. Let them choose from options like credit cards, bank transfers, or facilities like PayPal that fall under financial frameworks and follow compliances for worldwide transactions. Some financial institutions also automatically process currency conversions so users can perform transactions in their local currency.

Challenge 5: Disparity in Shipping Data Visibility

Moving goods across borders can be tricky. Brands have to manage transportation, and inventories, and coordinate with internal teams. All this becomes difficult and inefficient without accurate order data and visibility. Not to mention the delays and lags it creates.

Solution: Use unified dashboards and dedicated portals for a holistic order journey. These portals provide rich insights on routes, rates, and loads, and offer an intuitive experience and control to plan and coordinate smoothly. Brands can look at this information on a single interface and send real-time updates to customers about their packages travelling across countries.

Wrapping Up

We have uncovered five challenges and their solutions to help buyers and sellers navigate the complex landscape of cross-border logistics. Understanding these obstacles and leveraging the right solutions are key to successfully managing the constant demand and supply of goods to cross-border territories. 

In addition to that, brands must look towards establishing a solid international base and build lasting business-customer bonds to ensure repeat sales. From elevating overseas logistics efforts to creating a global presence, they can go shoulder-to-shoulder with cross-border competitors. 

The post Navigating Challenges Of Cross-Border Logistics appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The concept of the one-man army, capable of simultaneously battling multiple enemies, is far-fetched and fantastical. But is this sustainable or even perfectly executable? According to the WorldMetrics’ 2024 report, a significant 30% of disruptions in the supply chain can be attributed to human error. 

In reality, the one-man army is simply a point of contact in the larger scheme of things. Their effectiveness relies on support and recognition from others. How can a one-man army truly exist in the complicated, chaotic universe of shipping and remain beyond the scope of human error?

The answer lies in tech-driven logistics. (No, we aren’t talking about the famous DeLorean from Back to the Future!)

AI-fuelled tools are entering every possible realm from art to medicine, often accompanied by a flurry of controversy. While some innovations occur purely to test the boundaries of human imagination, others follow the true path of design – to find a creative solution to a problem. 

We cannot deny its impact on bettering the qualitative nature of certain things. One such undertaking is the crafting of necessary keys to overcome the obstacles in the supply chain journey. 

Is There A Need For Intelligent Intervention?

According to Research&Markets, AI-enabled supply chains are 67% more effective than their non-AI counterparts, thanks to reduced risks and lower overall costs.

Much like the journey of Hercules to his ‘twelve labours’, the supply chain highway that gets goods from ‘point A to point B’ is vulnerable to challenges en route. Multiple pitstops require monitoring & management such as service operator switches, metamorphosis of goods, and changes in route & delivery deadlines. 

This path is paved by information. Human data entry is prone to mistakes and oversights. And so, getting the data right so the package gets delivered at the right place and at the right time is a herculean task.

According to G2, Excel spreadsheets are the primary operational tool for 46% of supply chain experts. This 46% is vulnerable to the 30% of human error mentioned earlier, which can impact customer experience, in-house operations and relationships with vendors and businesses. As a result, customer retention rates, shipping costs, warehousing costs, committed SLAs, and even inventory can be negatively affected.

AI-driven shipping management solutions allow businesses to operate with a lean and mean logistics team. Once the configuration and setup are complete, their presence is required only on critical issues that need a touch of human interaction. 

So, with the possibility of >60% savings in shipping costs, why the hesitance? 48% of businesses say cost is the main obstacle to technology adoption, followed by return on investment (ROI) estimates (40%) and not knowing where to begin (35%). 

Where Does One Begin?

Seemingly straight out of Jetsons, intelligent AI & ML systems help accelerate three major components – pre-dispatch, post-dispatch, returns & exchanges. Automated AI-driven pre-dispatch tools cover all operations from the time an order has been placed at a store, all the way till the carrier partner picks it up from the hub. 

This eliminates the time-consuming manual processes of the Flintstonian Age, such as allocation of the right shipper, notifying the shipper about the pickup, generating documents necessary for the passage of the package, creating airway bills and even reminders to the shipper if the scheduled package pickup has failed.

Automating pre-dispatch tasks significantly improves order-to-dispatch TAT; particularly useful during the festive season and for businesses dealing with products that are ordered/created/customised on demand.

Post-dispatch tools cover all aspects of order status and related alerts once the package has been picked up by the shipper. These include API-based real-time shipment tracking on a service provider’s platform, delay prediction, milestone-based alerts to shoppers and non-delivery resolutions.

These configurable functionalities can be automated to run like clockwork to ensure the logistics team and shopper have visibility of the package. This set of features helps boost customer experience and improve the in-house team’s control over orders in transit.

Returns and exchange portals can be intelligently automated to process and accept or reject, shopper-initiated requests according to preset rules. The entire logistical aspect of returns & exchanges can also be configured similarly to the pre-dispatch journey with the pickup location being the customer’s address and the drop location being the business’s hub.

The bonus of a tech-boosted returns & exchanges module lies in the capability to monetise them, enhance shopper experience with speedy processing, and let automation deal with the logistics of it all.

What About The Cost & ROI?

Rather than considering the cost unilaterally, one needs to look at the impact of AI tech on business operations holistically. For example, intelligent logistics platforms enable visibility to all in-house teams through accessible digital data. 

The real-time notifications sent to customers reduce order-related queries, ensuring only a bare-bones support team is needed for sensitive issues such as that crazy watermark on Dunder-Mifflin paper.

AI-driven shipping solutions also help cut down NDRs and RTOs by over 50% ensuring profitability for tech-aided businesses. The swift resolutions also help brands garner positive NPS and improve brand perception in the market.

The cost? Compared to the amount of in-house tech businesses would need to build to match their speed of scaling, the constant tweaking, the tech team, and the expense of it all? Negligible. Plus, it’s always best to rely on expert solution providers rather than risk experimenting with the heart of any business, i.e. logistics.

The Final Word

Remove the tech, and Batman is just a sad, angry individual trying to fight injustice, limited by his human capabilities. Add in tech, and this vigilante becomes the one-man army capable of defeating a legit superhero. 

This euphemism perfectly sums up an article advocating the possibility of making logistics the job of a one-man army, backed by the incredible tech available on the market today.

The post How Logistics Can Be The Job Of A One-Man Army appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Ride hailing major Uber has rolled out its electric vehicle service, Uber Green, in Kolkata, offering users on demand EV rides across the city.

With this, Uber becomes the second ride hailing service provider to offer EVs in the city after Snap E, another company operating with an all-EV fleet.

However, the company did not disclose details on the number of vehicles to be operating under Uber Green or its further expansion plans in the city.

“Enhancing the air quality in Kolkata is a shared duty we all must embrace. I commend Uber for introducing ‘Uber Green’ in Kolkata, a significant step towards reducing carbon emissions in our city,” said West Bengal Transport Minister Snehasis Chakraborty.

“This service allows residents to book zero-emission rides with ease through the Uber app, promoting sustainable travel across the city, including routes to and from Kolkata international airport,” Uber said in a statement.

In November 2023, the ride-booking service provider initially launched its electric vehicle service in Bengaluru, where the Karnataka information technology minister Priyank Kharge flagged off the first Uber Green vehicles from the Bengaluru Palace on the sidelines of the Bengaluru Tech Summit.

While its Indian rival Ola, in January, announced the launch of its ebike service in Delhi and Hyderabad, following its success in Bengaluru. The company also said that it will double down and expand the service across India by the end of this year.

The Adani Group, one of the biggest conglomerates in India, is also reportedly seeking for a strategic partnership with ride-hailing major Uber to roll out its electric passenger cars.

The multinational company submitted bids for 3,600 electric buses in government tenders. Partnering with Uber aligns with Adani’s $100 Bn investment plans spanning various industries, including the energy transition over the next decade.

The Uber Green initiative adds to the existing Uber Shuttle service it has launched in the city. Uber Shuttle operates in Kolkata under an MoU with the West Bengal government. The company conducted a pilot programme for Uber Shuttle in Delhi, which is active in service for riders since May.

Uber’s India arm saw its net loss widen over 58% to INR 311.3 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 196.7 Cr in the previous fiscal, resulting from bloating costs.

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Flipkart-backed logistics unicorn BlackBuck, which is planning to go public in FY25 and seeks to raise as much as $300 Mn, has converted itself into a public company. 

The board at Blackbuck has approved a resolution to change the company’s status from private to public. Consequently, the company’s name has been changed from Zinka Logistics Solutions Private Limited to Zinka Logistics Solutions Limited.

The conversion of the company from a private company limited by shares to a public company limited by shares would enable the company to raise funds from a large pool of investors to meet the growth requirements and vision of the company, as per an RoC filing.

Founded in 2015 by Rajesh Yabaji, Chanakya Hridaya and Rama Subramaniam, BlackBuck claims to be the largest online trucking platform in India, with over 90% market share of all online trucking activities.

As per the startup, it has over 700K truckers and 1.2 Mn trucks on its platform, with over 15 Mn monthly transactions. It also has a services business that sells GPS tracking devices, FASTags and fuel cards.

BlackBuck counts the likes of Tiger Global, Accel, Peak XVand Goldman Sachs among its investors. The startup entered the unicorn club in 2021 after raising $67 Mn in a funding round led by Tribe Capital, IFC Emerging Asia Fund and VEF. So far, it has raised a total funding of around $360 Mn.

It was reported earlier that the unicorn is looking to file the DRHP with the full FY24 financial numbers and intends to launch its IPO in the second half of FY25.

BlackBuck plans to use the IPO proceeds to scale up its services business, which it has been focusing on ramping up in recent years, as well as to grow its core freight business.

It posted an INR 290 Cr loss in FY23, a marginal increase INR 285 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Its operating revenue declined 15% to INR 704 Cr from INR 832 Cr in FY22.

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