Odysse Electric looking to raise $5-10 million for expansion, says CEO

Electric two-wheeler maker Odysse Electric is looking to raise $ 5-10 million to drive its growth plans, including new product development and scaling up manufacturing capabilities, as it sets sight on the mass segment, company's Chief Executive Officer Nemin Vora has said.

The company has already started the process to secure external funding, which is expected to be completed by the current quarter of this fiscal, Vora said in an interaction with PTI.

Operational since 2020, the city-based EV maker with over 60 dealerships across 20-plus states claims to have sold over 10,000 vehicles in the domestic market till date, besides having an order book of over 20,000 vehicles through its B2B channel.

Odysse offers seven vehicle models with 12 variants, comprising both high- and low-speed electric scooters as well as bikes.

"We are seeking external capital to finance our growth and capture a significant share of the Indian E2W (electric two-wheeler) market," Vora told PTI.

"The company is looking at $ 5-10 million and the plans are to secure this capital in the June quarter of this fiscal," he added.

According to him, the proposed capital will be utilised to enhance the company's manufacturing and operational capabilities.

"This includes capacity building, new product development, network expansion, talent acquisition, and increased efforts in branding, marketing, and R&D, among others," he added.

The product expansion plans include introduction of two made-in-India high-speed scooters, including one in a sub Rs 1-lakh category, while an e-superbike in the affordable category is also in the pipeline, Vora said.

The rising demand coupled with our expansion plan to serve the mass market, makes the company foresee that it could more than double the current volumes in the next two years, he emphasised.

The EV sector, particularly E2W, according to him, is expected to grow significantly in FY25, with E2Ws penetration expected to go up by 6-8 per cent.

This growth is driven by government initiatives like the EMPS (Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme) 2024, designed to support the shift towards electric mobility as the FAME-II subsidies come to an end, he said.

"We are exploring multiple avenues to broaden our network and revenue channel," Vora stated, adding,"We are targeting the mass market with a focus on non-metro areas."

Every three out of four E2Ws get sold in non-metro areas, and more than 75 per cent of the E2Ws sold in the country are under the sub Rs 1 lakh price band.

"Our partnerships across the EV ecosystem, with top EV financing and eMaaS companies, help foster our future growth," he added.

Vora also said that the company is utilising its production capacity of 30,000 vehicles per annum at the optimum level and added "given our expansion plans, we anticipate the need for an additional facility to meet future demand".

The company's strategy includes enhancing marketing and branding efforts, expanding dealer and channel network, and forging B2B partnerships with mobility-as-a-service platforms.

"Further, we have plans to go global in the next couple of years across the MENA, Latin American and ASEAN countries," Vora said, adding that the company aims to expand its reach significantly in the next two years, with the objective of going deeper in India, tapping non-metro geographies that represent a significant share of the market.

'Our R&D efforts include developing models with mid-drive powertrains instead of hub motors. We aim to develop our own powertrain and battery pack within the next two years," he said.