EV Ride-Hailing Platform BluSmart Raises $25 Million in Series A Funding
The funding will be used to expand the EV and charging stations in five cities
October 1, 2021
Electric ride-hailing platform BluSmart has raised $25 million in Series A funding from multiple investors. bp ventures, a venture capital arm of energy major bp, led the financing round and invested $13 million.
Mayfield India Fund, 9Unicorns, Survam Partners, and other existing investors participated in the funding round.
BluSmart will use the funding to expand its electric vehicles (EV) fleet and charging stations from Delhi to five additional cities in the coming two years.
The investment will help bp lead India’s mobility market and provide integrated energy and mobility solutions. With this investment, Sophia Nadur, Managing Partner at bp ventures, will join the board of directors of BluSmart.
With a growing EV charging infrastructure and fleet, BluSmart aims to transform ride-hailing in the country. The company said its business was growing in Delhi-NCR, representing 20% of India’s mobility market. It claimed to have saved over 1,500 tons of carbon dioxide emissions with over 650,000 trips to date.
According to bp ventures, the industry is forecast to grow significantly. Mobility as a service is expected to account for 15% of 1.1 trillion kilometers to be traveled by passenger vehicles in India by 2030, compared to 5% of 477 billion kilometers traveled now.
Sophia Nadur, managing partner at bp ventures, will join BluSmart’s board. To date, bp ventures has invested almost $800 million in more than 60 companies across seven geographies.
Last year, BluSmart secured ₹510 million (~$6.89 million) in its pre-series A funding round from multiple investors. Investors like Inflection Point Ventures (IPV), Survam Partners, Venture Catalysts, Mumbai Angels, Chhatisgarh Investments Limited, JITO Angels, Lets Venture Fund, and Kaplavriksh Fund participated in the pre-series A funding round.
Reliance Industries and bp joint venture, Jio-bp, have tied up with BluSmart to establish a large-scale commercial EV charging stations network in India. Both the companies would collaborate in the planning, developing, and operating EV charging infrastructure where BluSmart operates.