BluSmart closes a $100 million EV asset loan while in advanced talks to raise $250 million

• ByStartupStory     |    January 5, 2023

According to co-founder Anmol Jaggi, BluSmart is in advanced talks to raise $250 million in its most recent Series B investment, with $50 million coming from current investors and founders and the remaining $200 million coming from a sizable climate fund and a pension fund.

Anmol continued, “The ride-hailing firm has also secured a $100 million credit line to grow its fleet through the purchase of 7,000 electric vehicles.” The company’s accessible green taxis have gained public appeal due to their affordability.

In March of last year, BluSmart received a loan from the government-run Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) for the purpose of purchasing 3,000 electric vehicles. The disbursement of the new credit line will occur in less than 15 days. He said that the official approval for the fundraising campaign has not yet been made. The $250 million equity investment round will receive $10 million to $20 million from BluSmart’s founders, with the remainder of the funds coming from current investors, including BP Ventures, the investing arm of British oil giant BP.

As part of the latest investment round, a pension fund and a climate fund will jointly invest $200 million in BluSmart, adding their names to the startup’s list of shareholders. The business plans to use the new funding to build up its fleet, advance technology, and improve the infrastructure for charging. BluSmart projects that by the end of March 2024, it will have installed 8,000 charging stations—a 5X increase from the 1,600 stations it presently has—and will be running more than 40,000 electric taxis.

BluSmart was established in 2019 by Anmol and Punit Goyal and began operations in Delhi-NCR with 70 electric vehicles. The company leases owns, and runs its electric cabs, unlike usual ride aggregators.

Drivers on the platform don’t pay for fuel, EMI payments, or rent either; instead, they receive a guaranteed minimum wage (up to 30% of their total compensation) and variable pay (up to 70%), which is based on how effectively they take care of the car and how they interact with clients. There are currently close to 5,000 driver partners.

The startup debuted in Bengaluru in 2022 after making two million rides in 2,200 taxis and succeeding in Delhi. It already has more than 3,000 EVs on the road in Delhi and Bengaluru, with plans to quickly spread to other major cities. Positive comments about the business have been posted on social media for its features, which include on-time service, no surge charges, and zero cancellations.albeit

Due to bad experiences with safety incidents, many cancellations, extra payment demands, and sluggish customer care resolution times, the use of alternative cab aggregators to Ola and Uber has recently increased. Due to the high demand from city travelers, Bengaluru-based Lithium, Envi, and MYN have also been growing in popularity,  Ola and Uber continue to hold the top rankings.

Investors including LetsVenture, Mumbai Angels, 9Unicorns, BP Ventures, Inflection Point Ventures, and others have contributed $75 million to BluSmart so far.

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