Electric vehicle maker Simple Energy, on Tuesday said it has secured over $20 million in an ongoing bridge funding round.
The fundraise saw the participation from Thyrocare Technologies Ltd’s founder Arokiaswamy Velumani, Gokaldas Group’s Ashwin Hinduja, Nash Industries owners Sanjay and Sandeep Wadhawa and Purple Moon Ventures, among others.
Existing investors Manish Bharti and Vasavi Green Tech also took part in the round.
The company plans to use the fresh funds to ramp up production of its electric scooter, the Simple ONE. It claims to have received more than one lakh bookings for its flagship two-wheeler.
“We have received a phenomenal pre-booking response and to cater to the demand, we are raising funds in a timely manner,”said Suhas Rajkumar, founder and chief executive officer at Simple Energy.
The funds raised will be strategically used to aid the production ramp-up and for a quicker delivery commencement, he added.
Founded in 2019 by Rajkumar and Shreshth Mishra, Simple Energy is an electric two-wheeler manufacturer headquartered in Bengaluru. The company has recently inaugurated its facility in Shoolagiri, Tamil Nadu with an initial investment of Rs 100 crore. It said that it has more products in the pipeline.
Simple Energy, which started taking bookings for Simple One in August 2021, is yet to begin the deliveries of the electric two-wheeler. Rajkumar, however, believes that the company will roll out the deliveries soon. “We have successfully de-bottlenecked product constraints and are confident that we will soon start deliveries of India’s finest and premium two-Wheeler EV – the Simple ONE,” he said.
Prior to this round, Simple Energy had raised $21 million as a part of an equity funding round that saw participation from existing investors and board members along with new investors Sattva Group and Athiyas Group, among others.
In the electric two-wheeler space, Simple Energy pits against Ola Electric, Ather Energy, Okinawa Autotech, TVS and Hero Electric, among others.
