Corporate, PE investments in EV start-ups grow 170% in 2019 to $397 mn

The $306-million investment in Ola Electric Mobility by SoftBank Corp, Arun Sarin Family, Ratan Tata and Matrix has been the biggest funding in this space in value terms this year

Driven by the belief that the next wave of disruption for India’s automobile industry will be led by electric vehicles (EVs), corporate and private equity (PE) investors seem to be increasing their bets on start-ups working in this space. Investment flows into such start-ups in 2019 (until the end of November) have grown nearly 170 per cent to $397 million, compared with $147 million in the first 11 months of last year.

The $306-million investment in Ola Electric Mobility by SoftBank Corp, the Arun Sarin family, Ratan Tata and Matrix, in two tranches — $56 million in February and $250