BP Ventures has made its first direct investment in India, splashing out $13 million on integrated EV ride-hailing and charging company BluSmart.
It led a $25 million Series A round that also saw support from Mayfield India Fund, 9Unicorns and Survam Partners, alongside other existing investors.
BluSmart will use the cash to expand its fleet of electric vehicles and charging stations from its home city of Delhi to five additional Indian cities in the next two years.
It’s hoped the investment will help BP move towards becoming a leader in India’s mobility market.
Sophia Nadur, managing partner at BP Ventures – which has invested almost $800m in more than 60 companies across seven geographies – will join BluSmart’s board.
BluSmart is India’s first and largest integrated EV ride-hailing and charging company and is the first service of its kind with no surge pricing or rides rejected by drivers.
India is now the third-largest startup market globally and its GDP is projected to be the world’s third largest by 2030.
Yet with 35 of the top 50 most polluted cities globally, there’s a huge need for low carbon technologies to help make that growth compatible with its climate ambitions.
With the largest EV charging infrastructure in India and a growing fleet of electric vehicles, BluSmart aims to transform ride hailing in the country.
The business is growing quickly in Delhi NCR, which represents 20% of India’s mobility market.
BluSmart estimates it has already saved over approximately 1,500 tonnes of CO2, with more than 650,000 passenger trips completed to date.
Richard Bartlett, senior vice president future mobility and solutions, said: “The electric mobility revolution will have a huge impact in reducing vehicle emissions in cities, which in India are growing quickly. BluSmart’s business model solves a number of key barriers to urban EV ride-hailing take-up, from the cost for drivers to the quality of customer experience. Our partnership is underpinned by shared values; caring for customers, colleagues and the environment, and with safety at the core of everything we do. We are excited to have made our first direct investment in India, to grow alongside the BluSmart business.”
Anmol Singh Jaggi, co-founder of BluSmart, added: “We believe that electric mobility has huge growth potential, driven in part by the increasingly favourable economics behind electric vehicles. With that in mind we want to redefine ride-hailing with electric vehicles, and our consumer focus has helped us to already establish a strong brand presence in our core market; to date our vehicles have travelled over 21 million kilometres. This latest funding infusion will help us grow as we work with bp to help transform India’s high polluting cities and redefine ride-hailing with electric vehicles.”
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