Japanese firm Mitsui & Co invests Rs 100 cr in EV startup SmartE

With its series B fundraise, the company is looking to rapidly increase its fleet size within Delhi-NCR as well as other key cities around the country. New Delhi: SmartE (TVV Pvt Ltd), an Indian e-vehicle last-mile service startup, has bagged series B funding of Rs 100 crore from Japan’s $62.7-billion conglomerate Mitsui, co-founder Goldie Srivastava told ETAuto.

“Mitsui will bring to SmartE multiple synergies through its existing businesses in the EV domain around the world to enable the company for long-term growth,” Srivastava said, while declining to give details on the stake dilution. In early 2017, SmartE had raised its series A funding of $5 million from Singapore-based Ecotransit Investments International Pte Ltd.

With its series B fundraise, the company is looking to rapidly increase its fleet size within Delhi-NCR as well as other key cities around the country. It will also use the funds to significantly ramp up its charging infra network to offer both plug-in vehicle charging and battery swapping solutions.

Currently, SmartE ferries about one lakh passengers every day in NCR. It has about 1,000 e-three-wheelers, and the fleet size could rise to 10,000 in the next 18 months.

Srivastava said the investments would help expand into nine new cities.

Commenting on the deal, Shinichiro Omachi, Managing Director of Mitsui & Co. India, said: “Growing urbanization in Delhi-NCR is driving demand for transportation, including first- and last-mile services, placing a greater burden on the environment.”

According to Srivastava, India’s last-mile connectivity market is worth $42 billion, largely led by e-three wheelers and auto-rickshaws. Even as there is growth in e-rickshaws or e-three-wheelers, auto-rickshaws continue to command half the pie size. The share of cycle rickshaws has shrunk to 20% from 45-50%, however, reflecting the growing use of e-rickshaws.

SmartE has built EV charging infrastructure spread across five large hubs, with a capacity to concurrently charge more than 800 electric three-wheelers. SmartE is also the last-mile connectivity partner to Delhi Metro, offering its services across multiple metro stations in Delhi, Gurgaon, and Faridabad.

The company currently sources vehicles from Mahindra and Kinetic Green and energy solution providers like Panasonic, Exicom and Sun Mobility. Additionally, SmartE has entered into MoUs with multiple state governments to roll out its last-mile connectivity services using electric vehicles.