After e-scooters, Ola electric cars?🚗
Bike-taxi firm Rapido raises $52 Mn, Is technology shaping personal mobility? and more.
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According to the government's ‘Invest in India' website, India is predicted to be the world's third-largest automotive market in terms of volume by 2026. Our top three headlines today indicate that local tech startups will play a significant role in making this achievable.
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Ola wants to make electric cars too, says CEO🚘
Ola's co-founder and CEO, Bhavish Aggarwal, has stated that the business may enter the electric car market within the next two years.
"We will get into it (electric cars) in the next two years. I will discuss details as we get closer to the project,” he told ToI at the launch of Ola’s first electric scooter Sunday.
Aggarwal wants all two-wheelers sold in the country to be electric by 2025. He said that the auto industry needs to make investments to leverage the ecosystem and turn India into an electric vehicle hub. According to Aggarwal, the EV journey can progress only by building the technology and ecosystem in India.
Bike-taxi firm Rapido raises $52 Mn🏍
Rapido, India’s largest bike taxi platform, has secured $52 million in its latest round of funding. With its latest round of funding, Rapido will be making strategic investments in innovations, technology, people, and supply.
Rapido allows deliveries for companies such as Zomato, Swiggy, BigBasket, Reliance JioMart, and DotPe. It also has a minor presence in the customer-facing pickup-and-drop market, which is dominated by platforms like Dunzo and Swiggy Genie.
The company is currently operational in around 100 cities, servicing more than 15 million customers through over 1.5 million driver-partners.
Hot Shorts ⚡
MyTVS, the auto parts and accessories subsidiary of TVS Group has raised Rs 375 crore to scale its online-to-offline business and build its cloud-based digital infrastructure.
SleepyCat, a direct-to-consumer 'sleep solutions' brand, has raised $3.8 million in a funding round to step up its design innovation while expanding manufacturing and distribution capabilities.
How is technology shaping personal mobility?🚙
The car services and repairs market is likely to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 12% to reach $25 billion by 2030, as compared to $8 billion last year, RedSeer Management Consulting said in the report.
In 2019-20, Indians bought 1.6 used cars for every new car sold. That figure stood at 1.1 in FY16. The ratio stands at 2.6 in the US and UK.
Online platforms—from CarTrade and Spinny to Digit and GoMechanic—are accelerating the digitization of the entire journey of car ownership—search, financing, purchase, and insurance.
Even garages and workshops are getting organized.
Startups like GoMechanic are building quality and affordable solutions in this segment by offering services such as doorstep pick-up and drop, low-cost service, and even warranties.
To be sure, investors have their eyes on the growth of Autotech in India.
Droom, an automobile marketplace, recently achieved unicorn status after a pre-IPO funding round. The company wants to list on the Nasdaq.
Spinny, an online used car marketplace, has raised $108 million in a Series D funding round.
Just last week, CarTrade’s IPO—which offered shares in a price band of Rs 1,585-1,618 apiece—was subscribed more than 20 times.
As for new cars, sales surged 140% year-on-year in April-June. While that may be due to a low base, it points to the fact people still want to buy cars—new and old.
Tweet of the day🐥
Only 3 captains from India have won a test match at Lord's.
#KapilDev - 1986 #MSDhoni - 2014 #ViratKohli - 2021
✅ In this decade, we need to work to make the Indian startup ecosystem the best, PM Narendra Modi said in his Independence Day speech.
✅ Adani Road Transport Ltd (ARTL) has signed a definitive deal to buy a 49% stake in Maharashtra Border Check Post Network Ltd (MBCPNL) for Rs 1,680 Crores.
“People often complain about lack of time when the lack of direction is the real problem.”
– Zig Ziglar
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