Gurugram-based electric rickshaw hailing platform Oye Rickshaw raised INR 24 Cr (USD 3.2 million) from venture debt fund Alteria Capital. With the current round, the company has raised a total of INR 84 Cr so far. Oye Rickshaw had earlier raised around INR 60 crore from investors such as Chiratae Ventures, Matrix Partners, electronics giant Xiaomi, and the Pawan Munjal group.
The company launched full-fledged operations in December 2018 after raising $1 Mn from Matrix Partners. It claimed to have completed 2.2 Mn rides within the first year of operations. The Start-up said it will use the funds to expand its smart lithium-ion batteries swapping stations from 15 to 650 across Delhi-NCR and five other cities by the end of this year.
Founded by Mohit Sharma and Akash deep in 2017, Oye Rickshaw provides an app-based e-rickshaw booking service to the users. The business model involves connecting the electric rickshaw owners and daily commuters who use public transport to commute from home to work or other nearby locations.
‘This venture debt will allow Oye Rickshaw to create a full-stack energy services platform leveraging the best of battery charging and digital technology to create a ubiquitous battery swap network,’ the company said in a statement. The company, which started a battery swapping pilot project in December 2020, said it has crossed one lakh swap kilometers in under three months.
Commenting on the launch of the platform, Oye Rickshaw Founder Mohit Sharma said, “By introducing swapping, we are significantly reducing downtime of our e-rickshaws and thus adding more commute hours for customers and more money into the pockets of our driver-partners. This marks the beginning of a journey towards becoming a major connected electric vehicle player focused on mass micro-mobility.”
“We have operating revenue of INR 15 lakh per month. After deployment of a total of 650 swapping stations, we expect it to reach INR 5 Cr operating revenue per month. We expect to fund future expansion from internal accruals,” Oye Rickshaw founder Mohit Sharma told PTI.
The startup estimates the e-rickshaw battery swapping market in India to reach over INR 29,000 Cr by 2025 and the company wants to be the dominant player in the segment, Sharma said.
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