BluSmart, an electric vehicle (EV) ride-hailing company and a new rival for the likes of Uber and Ola, recently secured approximately $42 million (₹343.80 crore) in combined equity and debt funding from BP Ventures and several existing investors.
What Happened? Founders Anmol Jaggi and Punit Goyal contributed over 50% of the total capital infusion to increase their stake in the company, financing the round themselves.
This funding round, called ‘Series A2’, positions BluSmart as a competitor to Ola and Uber. The company plans a larger Series B round, raising over $100 million (₹818.59 crore), to be announced later.
Excluding the current round, BluSmart has raised over $70 million (₹573 crore) from investors such as Green Frontier Capital, Mayfield, Survam Partners, and several angel investors.
BluSmart intends to use the fresh funds to expand its operations. Over the next 12-18 months, the company aims to add 40,000-50,000 more EVs as it enters new regions like Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Chennai and deepens its presence in existing cities like Mumbai and Bengaluru.
See also: After Tesla, Bhavish Aggarwal’s Ola May Be Entering Amazon’s Territory Next
By the end of the 2023 financial year, BluSmart plans to have a fleet of over 5,000 EVs in the Delhi-NCR belt and Bengaluru.
It is worth noting that BluSmart’s business model differs from established players like Ola and Uber, as it owns all the cars it operates and employs drivers on its payroll, earning higher margins than competitors.
The company prefers to operate in the top seven cities of India and has shown a preference for longer trips, such as airport travel, which offer better economies per trip compared to intra-city rides.
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