EV ride-hailing firm BluSmart gets $42 mn in fresh funding to expand fleet

Start-up says will use fresh capital to 'go deeper' in Delhi NCR and Bengaluru

BluSmart, the electric vehicle (EV) ride-hailing start-up, said on Thursday it has raised $42 million in fresh funding as it braces to compete with Ola Cabs and Uber.

BluSmart’s latest funding round included $37 million in equity funding, coupled with venture debt of $5 million. It had participation from the firm’s existing investors, including BP Ventures, the investment arm of energy giant BP Plc and which holds 20 per cent equity. Almost 50 per cent of the round was subscribed by the BluSmart founders and its leadership team.  

The funding will be used to strengthen BluSmart’s operations in Delhi NCR and Bengaluru, the two cities where the company has services. The firm plans to expand its fleet of 3,500 EVs to about 10,000 in FY24.

“BluSmart plans to use fresh capital to go deeper in Delhi NCR and Bengaluru, two key markets that currently account for 40 per cent of the ride-hailing industry,” Anmol Singh Jaggi, BluSmart’s co-founder and CEO, told 'Business Standard'. “With this deeper expansion, our goal is to better serve our existing customers by increasing the availability,” he said.

Founded in 2019, the Gurugram-headquartered firm started out by offering airport rides in Delhi, and later scheduled bookings. It then expanded to Bengaluru.

BluSmart, whose monthly revenue has grown three-fold over the last three quarters, operates electric vehicles, unlike its competitors. The firm has more than 2,300 EV charging points across Delhi NCR and Bengaluru and claims to have saved about 12.6 million litres of fossil fuel till now.

“The electrification of public transportation is imminent but the path to electrification has its own challenges,” Jaggi said, adding, “BluSmart tackles these challenges through an integrated and full-stack approach consisting of – born electric tech stack, complete control over EV charging infrastructure (installation, execution and utilisation) and choosing the prime locations to build large scale EV charging infrastructure, optimally using and maintaining the EV ride-hailing fleet at scale.”

BluSmart recently secured the largest EV asset financing in India backed by Power Finance Corporation (PFC) which will add 5000 EVs to BluSmart’s growing fully-electric ride-hailing fleet.

“While making EV transition in ride-hailing a reality is BluSmart’s business mission, our people mission is to create inclusive and equitable economic opportunities for driver-partners. We are focused on sustainability and profitability with a larger purpose to accelerate EV adoption and reverse climate change,” said Tushar Garg, co-founder and chief business officer of BluSmart.

Until now, the company has raised $109 million across in funding rounds, including equity investment of $85 million.