India EV ride-hailing start-up raises $50m

BP Ventures and Green Frontier co-led a USD 25m tranche this week with support from Alteria Capital, BlackSoil Capital, Stride Ventures, and UC Inclusive Credit, a non-bank lender incubated by microfinance specialist Unitus Capital. This was comprised of USD 15m in equity and USD 10m in debt.

Dubai-based Panthera Capital also participated in the latest tranche, according to a social media post by Green Frontier. Panthera, which invests across the Middle East and India, is the VC arm of industrials and logistics-focused conglomerate Fujairah Holding.

It follows an initial USD 25m Series A in September last year led by BP Ventures, which provided USD 13m in its first direct investment in India. That round featured Mayfield India, 9Unicorns, Survam Partners, and unnamed existing investors. Earlier backers include IP Ventures, Mumbai Angels Network, and Hero MotoCorp.

BluSmart claims to be India’s largest zero-emission ride-hailing platform with more than 450,000 downloads and a track record of more than 990,000 trips logging some 40m clean kilometres of passenger transport. It is also said to be the first service of its kind with no surge pricing or rides rejected by drivers.

Safety and cleanliness are important features, with customers able to view the last time each car was sanitised and check driver vaccination status via the app. The company aims to remove the financial burden of vehicle ownership by leasing vehicles to drivers. It also oversees all vehicle maintenance in an effort to reduce driver stress.

The latest funding will be used to build out the cab fleet from about 400 currently to 5,000. It will also support an expansion of the charging network, which currently stands at about 1,150 stations. This will be achieved in part by partnering with the owners of existing charging stations.

Blusmart estimates the ride-hailing market size will grow from the current USD 20bn to USD 90bn by 2030 across Indian megacities. Meanwhile, the government has set EV penetration targets of 30% for private cars and 70% for commercial cars by 2030. This will involve disincentivising conventional vehicle purchases through parking surcharges and fossil fuel and carbon taxes that fund EV initiatives.

Notable investment across these themes in recent months includes EverSource Capital acquiring Lithium Urban Technologies, an EV fleet and charging operator focused on B2B mobility services, for a reported USD 50m. EverSource is a joint venture between Lightsource BP, a renewable power developer backed by BP, and Everstone Capital, an India-focused GP based in Singapore.

India’s broader EV investment opportunity is seen as smaller than that of China but more attractive in terms of shared mobility, mobility-as-a-service, micro-mobility, and public transport versus private-use cars. Urban and high-repeat routes are estimated to represent up to 60% of all transportation in the country, making fleet operation and logistics the most prospective categories.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Consumer
• Infrastructure
• Cleantech
• Early-stage
• India
• Alteria Capital
• Electric Vehicles
• automobiles
• Transportation