Mumbai-based electric vehicle (EV) startup Earth Energy EV announced that it received an undisclosed amount of seed funding.
The company plans to use the funds to facilitate the launch of three vehicle models, which it has been working on. The startup added that it has been conducting on-road trials for the last two and a half years.
This latest round of funding was led by LR Joshi, MD of Pranada Biopharma Private Limited, along with three other equity investors. Previously, the company had raised investments from private investors and was also a part of the SmartCity Dubai Accelerator Program in 2018.
Commenting on this latest round of funding, Rushi Shenghani, Founder of Earth Energy EV, said, “It’s remarkable to have the support of our investors as we look to grow the company and disrupt the EV market. The vehicles we are launching in the market are 96% localized and in the true essence marks the ‘Make in India’ initiative put forth by the government. The investment will be used to hire critical talent, strengthen the sales network, and make the vehicles production-ready via enhanced OEM (original equipment manufacturers) relations and strong supply chain.”
“The vehicles to be launched in the last quarter of this year will be in the high-speed two-wheeler and commercial vehicles category. We will offer lucrative pricing and buying options to the customers for making the transition to EVs easy and comfortable,” he added.
The company was started in 2017 and is currently involved in the development of electric motorcycles, electric scooters, commercial vehicles, and autonomous vehicle drivetrains for global consumers. It operates under the Dubai-based parent company Grushie Energy Private Limited.
Several startups in the EV sector have secured funding in the last year, and this is encouraging for the adoption of EVs in the country. The automotive sector is witnessing a paradigm shift with the introduction of new technologies, and the startups are playing their part in driving this change.
In January this year, Bengaluru-based startup Numocity Technologies raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Ideaspring Capital, Rebright Partners, and ABB Technology Ventures (ATV).
The startup is focused on providing end-to-end solutions for the electric mobility infrastructure in the country.
Earlier, PURE EV, an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad-incubated startup, raised an undisclosed amount of funding. PURE EV is in the process of launching a high-speed motorcycle with battery swapping in 2020.
Previously Ather Energy, India’s intelligent electric scooter manufacturer, had raised $51 million (~₹3.8 billion) in funding led by Flipkart’s co-founder Sachin Bansal’s investment of $32 million (~₹2.4 billion). Ather Energy was one of the earliest startup investments of Sachin Bansal when he invested $0.5 million (~₹37,344) in the firm as an angel investor in 2014.
