India's Inventus backs EV manufacturer

Existing investor Blume Ventures, which led an INR150 million seed round last year, also took part in the Series A fundraise, according to a statement. Jetty Ventures, a local VC associated with a Dubai-based oil equipment manufacturer and Sujeet Kumar, the co-founder of B2B e-commerce platform Udaan, joined as a new investor.  

Founded in 2018, Euler makes electric three-wheelers that are usually rented or purchased by clients in the e-commerce and logistics sectors to fulfil last-mile delivery journeys. The vehicles have been used by grocery delivery firm BigBasket, Udaan, and logistics service providers Blue Dart and Ecom Express. It plans to introduce EVs to other logistics firms that serve companies in sectors other than e-commerce firms.

Euler has built about 200 EVs and claims to have the largest charging infrastructure portfolio in New Delhi with more than 100 captive stations. The company also manufactures its own batteries and hopes to manufacture EVs for personal transport needs in the future. It has a dedicated manufacturing and research & development facility for the production of light commercial EVs.

Euler founder Saurav Kumar founded the company with the goal of finding a commercially viable path to eventually succeed in the mass production of locally manufactured EVs. The fresh capital will be used for expanding headcount and introducing Euler EVs across other cities in the country.  

“For India to unlock the next wave of growth in electric mobility, it is essential to drive the adoption in the commercial vehicle segment with superior electrical vehicles & infrastructure. Euler Motors is an early front-runner in the space and is well-positioned to build the EV ecosystem. Saurav and the team have built an impressive product with a unique approach to making it work at scale,” said Rutvik Doshi, a managing director at Inventus Capital.

India’s EV market is at an infancy. While policymakers have publicly announced a determination to transition the country towards mass adoption of the technology, entrepreneurs state a number of challenges need to be tackled for the vision to turn into reality.

Unlike China, where EVs for private-use are on the rise, India is expected to see more opportunities in shared mobility, mobility-as-a-service, micro-mobility, and public transport in the near term. Two-wheelers remain the most popular transport mode for a majority of Indian commuters, which helps solve for a relative lack of charging infrasturcture locally. Unlike cars, electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers can be plugged into normal power outlets.  

Other players receiving VC backing in this space include e-bike sharing company Yulu Motors, electric taxi fleet operator Lithium Urban Technologies, and Ather Energy, a manufacturer of high-end electric scooters. Meanwhile, Ola Electric, an EV subsidiary of local ride-hailing leader Ola, has received $250 million from Softbank. 

India’s existing original equipment manufacturers – Tata Motors, Mahindra Electric and MG Motors – also manufacture EVs, but this represents a negligible minority of total sales.    

Inventus, which closed its third fund last year at INR3.6 billion, invests in Series A rounds for technology-focused companies. Its portfolio includes insurance comparison portal Policybazaar, health and wellness portal Healthifyme, used car marketplace Truebil, online city directory Little Black Book and augmented reality-enabled educational game developer Playshifu.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Early-stage
• Cleantech
• India
• Electric Vehicles
• Blume Ventures
• Inventus Capital
• automobiles