Baaz Bikes raises $2 mn in funding round led by Kalaari Capital

Baaz says it aims to solve the critical problems faced by gig delivery workers, i.e., long range requirements, rising petrol costs, lack of capex to buy bikes and heavy downtime due to maintenance

Baaz Bikes (ElecTorq Technologies) on Tuesday announced that it has received $2 million in Pre-Series A led by Kalaari Capital. Existing Investors like AdvantEdge, 9Unicorns and Sumant Sinha (CMD of Renew Power) also participated in this round. The company’s focus is to become a mobility platform that provides gig delivery workers access to its in-house designed cost-efficient EV ecosystem (Baaz Bikes and Baaz Swap Network). Baaz aims to solve the critical problems faced by gig delivery workers, i.e., long range requirements, rising petrol costs, lack of capex to buy bikes and heavy downtime due to maintenance.

"Aimed at assisting gig workers to increase their net take home income by up to 100%, Baaz adopted a tech-driven asset and operations light approach, which not only provides an opportunity for gig workers, but also enables local businessmen to enter the rapidly growing EV market in India by becoming a Baaz Bike Rental Partner," the company said in a statement.  

“It’s always exciting when we meet purpose-oriented entrepreneurs inventing and creating foundations which will unlock tremendous economic value. When the ergonomics of engineering directly impacts the livelihood of gig workers, it is almost a certainty that scale and its benefits will be visible quarter to quarter for the business. Baaz Bikes’ indigenous & innovative “Vehicle to Energy to Software” platform is a large-scale mobility solution designed for both India and Bharat, and will be the global standard for last-mile delivery. We are fortunate to partner with impact-oriented founders and are privileged to share their passionate vision of creating scale and a profitable EV business while directly enhancing India’s economy,” said Ravinder Pal Singh, Partner, Kalaari Capital.

“With new age companies promising 10-minute deliveries, demand is only going to strengthen from here. We are excited to have Kalaari’s support in our journey towards Building for Bharat. With this 2M$, we are going to blanket Delhi with our ecosystem in the next 6 months and are targeting to clock 100,000 kms every day,” said Anubhav Sharma, Co-Founder and CEO of Baaz.

The EV sector is expected to grow by 90% by 2030, according to a report by RBSA Advisors. In the Union Budget 2022-23, the government has created a framework for battery swapping policy to allow EV charging stations for automobiles. The private sector will thus be motivated to create innovative battery models to accelerate the EV ecosystem. This will boost the adoption of EVs, and initiate a move towards cleaner energy and environmentally friendly transportation, said Baaz.