Indian EV ride-hailing firm BluSmart has closed a pre-Series B funding round worth $24 million to expand its footprint in the country.
The round saw participation from Zurich-based impact asset manager responsAbility Investments AG; Sumant Sinha, the founder of Indian decarbonisation solutions company ReNew; MS Dhoni Family Office, and other existing investors.
In May, BluSmart co-founder Punit Goyal had told DealStreetAsia that the firm was raising about $25 million in a pre-Series B funding round.
Earlier in January, BluSmart had raised $25 million from responsAbility. In December, the company raised $24 million in an equity round, which saw participation from existing investors, founders, and the leadership team.
Other investors in the company include BP Ventures, Survam Partners, Mayfield India Fund, 9Unicorns (now 100Unicorns), JITO Angel Network, Green Frontier Capital, Stride Ventures, Alteria Capital, and BlackSoil, and Ka Innovations LLP, the family office of Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone, among others.
Since its inception in 2019, BluSmart has steadily grown its fleet size and customer base in Delhi-NCR and Bangalore. BluSmart claims to have the largest EV fleet in South Asia with over 7,500 EVs. It also owns and operates 5,000 chargers across its 50 EV charging locations spread across 2 million sq feet in Delhi-NCR and Bangalore.
BluSmart is also looking to expand in the global market. The company is looking to enter the Middle East market and is currently running a pilot in Dubai with some 100 Audi E-Tron SUVs and 130 drivers. The firm also plans to expand into Abu Dhabi later this year.
The company claims to have recently crossed Rs 550 crore ARR ($65 million Annual Revenue Run-rate).
The funding is the most recent example of rising investor interest in India’s EV market. The space in India has been buzzing with many startups such as Ather Energy, Altigreen, BatterySmart, Ola Electric, BOLT, and Baaz Bikes raising funds from a host of investors including corporate VCs and automakers.
Given the rise in petrol and diesel prices in India and awareness about the environment, more consumers are opting for public transportation such as buses.
