Commercial electric vehicle manufacturer Euler Motors has raised $60 million (approximately Rs 500 crore) in its Series C fundraise, led by GIC Singapore, founder and CEO Saurav Kumar has said.
The EV firm, which has an order book of 9,000 units from e-commerce players and online food delivery startups, said the round also saw participation from Blume Ventures, Athera Venture Partners (formerly Inventus India), QRG Holdings, ADB Ventures and Moglix.
In an exclusive interview to Moneycontrol, Kumar said that funds generated would primarily be deployed towards setting up a 12-acre plant in Haryana, which ill have an installed capacity of 3,60,000 units per annum in the long term and for which it had earmarked nearly Rs 200 crore . The company didn’t disclose the valuation of the stake sale.
Expansion plan
Euler Motors would also use the money to scale up its manufacturing and supply chain infrastructure, accelerate product development and augment talent across key functions.
“The EV industry has gone through COVID and there has been a shortage of electronics components and our own sort of manufacturing capability, so far, has been limited to 100 vehicles every month. So to kind of cater to this kind of demand, we are going to use this funding," Kumar said.
Euler Motors will also invest in expanding its distribution network and brand building while continuing to focus on its core values of innovation, performance, and design.
The startup plans to expand its retail presence from four cities —Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad—to 12 markets by the end of this fiscal, he said
"Currently, we are sitting with like 9,000 sort of order book that we need to kind of deliver to the customer and are hoping that this order book would sort of grow to 15,000 vehicles by the end of financial year,” Kumar said.
The investment would fuel their ambition to establish Euler Motors as a frontrunner to drive electrification of commercial mobility in India, Kumar said.
Driving e-commerce
Launched by Kumar in 2018, Euler Motors manufactures three-wheeler electric vehicles and has deployed fleets for BigBasket, Ecom Express, Amazon and Udaan.
The Faridabad-based firm aims to sell about 6,000 vehicles by this fiscal. Besides bulk orders, it has also started franchise models in Delhi and Haryana.
In 2021, Euler Motors launched HiLoad EV, India’s most powerful electric cargo three-wheeler with an industry-leading payload capacity of 688 kg, the highest range at 151 km and a 12.4 kWh proprietary liquid-cooled battery pack.
It has also set up a charging infrastructure with multiple charging options, customer-centric servicing as well as financing services.
"A part of the funding would enable the company to roll out 1,000 vehicles a month by March 2023, in order to fulfill the orderbook we have received. The company would continue to invest in setting up charging stations," Kumar said.
Meanwhile, Euler Motors is now looking to earn Rs. 300 crore during FY 2023, which is ten times the turnover it had registered during last financial year.
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