Fuel delivery startup FuelBuddy has raised $20 million in its latest funding round led by global conglomerates Naveen Jindal Group, Ravi Jaipuria Group (RJ Corp) and Nilesh Ved (Apparel Group, UAE).
The New Delhi-based company plans to expand in India as well as in overseas markets such as the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region and Southeast Asia. It had previously announced its intent to expand into the UAE market and now claims to be ready to launch its services there shortly.
The funds will also be used to enhance its technology stack and expand its services to alternative energies such as electric mobility and gas.
Founded in 2016, FuelBuddy offers doorstep fuel delivery with the help of IoT (internet of things) and cloud-enabled products to solve challenges faced in procurement and storage of fuel like pilferage, theft, spillage, monitoring and controlling consumption.
FuelBuddy has also recently forayed into the lubricants space with its partnership with two oil marketing companies: Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL).
The company, which operates in over 130 cities in the country, claims to have more than 45,000 customers. To date, it has fulfilled deliveries of about 10 crores litres of diesel to its partners across the country. Varun Beverages Ltd., Coca-Cola, Amazon, DLF, Infosys, Taj, Hitachi, Amazon, Flipkart, Mahindra Logistics, and Delhivery are some of its prominent customers.
Prior to this round, the company had raised Rs 40 crore from investors, including the Jaipuria Family Office. The startup is promoted by SK Narvar, chairman of Capital India Corp.
“This round is a strategic investment to further the vision that we have for FuelBuddy to expand aggressively internationally. We are confident that FuelBuddy will emerge as a leader in the international markets as well. FuelBuddy’s transformative solutions in the Indian markets have helped us grow exponentially and strengthen our business across geographies,” said Narvar.
In May 2021, FuelBuddy had acquired Bangalore-based on-demand fuel delivery startup MyPetrolPump in a cash and stock deal to strengthen its dominance in the niche segment. The deal also helped the company to tap newer geographies and customers as well as provide it with management bandwidth.
