Bengaluru-based electric vehicle startup FreshBus has secured ₹260 million (~$3 million) in seed funding from ixigo, an AI-based travel app, for the launch of inter-city electric bus services across India.

The company said it will utilize the funds to offer an alternative for affordable, and environment-friendly inter-city bus travel.

Sudhakar Reddy Chirra, Founder & CEO of, FreshBus said, “We will offer a more environment-friendly and affordable alternative to existing inter-city public transport which is currently dominated by fossil-fuel buses.”

Chirra added that a single electric bus will likely save over 90,000 liters of diesel and reduce close to 200 tons of CO2 emissions in a span of one year, which is equivalent to the effect of almost 10,000 trees on the environment.

FreshBus will commence its services from Hyderabad and Bengaluru with the launch of 24 electric buses and announce its first operational routes in March 2023.

Over the next 2-3 years, the startup plans to scale up its operations to over 1,000 buses pan-India. These buses will be able to cover up to 375 km on a single charge with zero emissions.

The company said it will be a technology-enabled smart bus operator that will build and own the customer experience for travelers end-to-end from finding, tracking, and booking their electric intercity buses via the FreshBus mobile app and website.

The total market size for inter-city bus travel is close to $20 billion and is expected to grow in the next few years, the company said.

Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar, co-founders of ixigo, said, “There are nearly 100,000 inter-city buses operating in the country, the majority of which are diesel-based and are a major source of urban air pollution. We are proud to be backing a joint vision of a future where all inter-city buses in India will run on clean fuel.”

Recently a bidding process conducted by the Convergence Energy Service Limited (CESL) has shown, that electric buses as a service are now the most cost-effective approach to urban public transport with or without subsidy.

Last September, Convergence Energy Services invited bids to select bus operators for the procurement, and operation & maintenance of 5,690 electric buses and the development of allied electric and civil infrastructure under the ‘National E-Bus Program (Phase-I).’