BLU Smart Mobility Pvt Ltd, which operates electric taxi-hailing and riding platform BluSmart, has raised Series A funding worth $25 million (Rs 185 crore) led by BP Ventures.
BP Ventures invested $13 million (around 96 crore). Others in the round were Mayfield India Fund, 9Unicorns, Survam Partners, and other existing investors.
Sophia Nadur, managing partner at BP Ventures, will join BluSmart’s board as part of this transaction.
BluSmart said it will use the funds to expand its fleet of electric vehicles and charging stations from its home city of Delhi to five additional Indian cities in the next two years.
The company says it offers affordable electric taxis to consumers in the Delhi-National Capital Region. It is also building an all-electric ecosystem through partnerships with companies in automotive, infrastructure, and energy spaces.
“We believe that electric mobility has huge growth potential, driven in part by the increasingly favourable economics behind electric vehicles,” Anmol Singh Jaggi, co-founder of BluSmart, said.
The investment marks the debut of BP Ventures in India set up 10 years ago. It has invested almost $800 million in technology companies across more than 40 active investments with more than 250 co-investors.
The fundraising announcement comes after BluSmart raised Rs 37 crore (nearly $5 million) and $7 million (Rs 51 crore) in pre-Series A fundings last year.
In 2019, the company raised $3 million (around Rs 21 crore) in an angel funding round from several investors including Ka Innovations LLP, the family office of actor Deepika Padukone.
This week, EV-based last-mile delivery service provider Zypp Electric raised $7 million in a Series A round co-led by 9Unicorns and Anthill Ventures.
The startup works with about 200 B2B grocery and other hyperlocal delivery companies in the country like Bigbasket, Amazon, Rapido, Flipkart, Spencers, Grofers, Citymall, and Dealshare.
Earlier this month, EV infrastructure platform Revos raised $4 million in a Series A funding round led by Prime Venture Partners and Union Square Ventures.
In July, lithium-ion battery-powered two-wheelers maker Hero Electric Vehicles raised Rs 220 crore ($29.5 million) in the first part of its Series B round of funding led by Gulf Islamic Investments, a UAE-based financial services firm.
