Discover the Spark Behind One of India’s Most Promising Start-ups

The cost of buying and operating EVs in India continues to fall. Fuelling this transition to sustainable transportation are path breaking innovators, like the founders of Statiq, a start-up that has grown to become India’s largest EV charging network. Theirs is a tale of technological ingenuity combined with a grand vision, which rests on a foundation of unstinting support and network benefits.

When Statiq was launched, success was far from assured. “EVs in the Indian market were the equivalent of a foreign term. Nobody I know personally owned an EV and there were very few fleets”, said CEO and co-founder, Akshit Bansal, recounting market conditions that accompanied the launch of Statiq in 2019. But that was before the Government of India promised to reduce India’s carbon emissions by a whopping 1 billion tonnes at COP26 and ushered in a sustainable revolution in the country. And before Statiq ascended to the premier league of start-ups by joining the exclusive FIRST WINGS program, created by IDFC FIRST Bank.

The freewheeling Q&A probed the major milestones in Statiq’s journey to find out what has set them apart. Their operating philosophy has been to, in Akshit Bansal’s words, “Take calculated risks while executing and reacting with the required agility.” While this positive approach has created a network of 6000 chargers and drawn in $ 25.7 million in Series A funding, it requires a carefully crafted enabling environment to succeed. Statiq found support in IDFC FIRST Bank, who extended their best-in-class services and financial tools to the company. As part of the IDFC FIRST WINGS program, Statiq received customized solutions and financial flexibility that allowed them to make leaps in scale and reliability. Describing the role IDFC FIRST Bank played in Statiq’s growth, Akshit Bansal said, “A sound financial partner allows you to take risks, while ensuring we can maximize returns.”

Another benefit of being part of the IDFC FIRST WINGS program for Statiq was the network effect. “The FIRST WINGS program opened the door to a lot more like-minded companies, thus allowing us to network into newer domains as well”, Akshit Bansal noted. Such platforms for interaction and collaborations between India’s diverse start-ups can be key to hitherto unforeseen synergies. FIRST WINGS program has become a leading platform to disseminate start-up best practices, whether it be in pitching, funding, or growth planning. And as Akshit Bansal can attest, enterprises can grow exponentially when given access to the kind of collective wisdom that the FIRST WINGS program brings to the table.

For the team at Statiq, the path ahead seems clear. “With the partnership flourishing in the best possible manner with the dedicated team, we can see IDFC FIRST Bank being the primary banking solutions provider for us in the near future”, Akshit Bansal said, underlining the sense of continuity and stability that every start-up seeks during their growth phase. Luckily for him, IDFC FIRST Bank have a lot of practice in guiding promising start-ups to the threshold of massive success.

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Moneycontrol journalists were not involved in the creation of the article.