Electric Cargo three-wheelers firm, Altigreen Propulsion Labs Pvt. Ltd has announced to enter passenger vehicle segment and raise $120 million from new and existing investors for its expansion plans and add a credit layer to its offering.
“We will look to tap into the various segments within electric vehicles–starting with passenger three-wheelers. We will keep adding more wheels in the future,” Amitabh Saran, Co-founder and Chief Executive officer of Altigreen, alluding to the possibility of entering the four-wheeler market eventually.
Founded in 2013 by Saran, Shalendra Gupta and Lasse Moklegaard, Bengaluru-based Altigreen designs, engineers, and produces electric vehicles for the last-mile goods transportation segment. The company expects to report revenue of more than ₹250 crores in the current financial year.
Demand for small electric cargo carriers has exploded as e-commerce companies such as Flipkart and Amazon choose cleaner vehicles to reduce their carbon footprint and save on costly fossil fuels for their delivery requirements.
The demand for such vehicles has surged alongside the increase in online shopping after the pandemic.
The company raised ₹300 crores in February from investors such as Sixth Sense Ventures, Xponentia Capital and Reliance New Energy. “We will raise around ₹800-1,000 crore next financial year to enter new segments and also start offering credit to its customers,” Saran said on the sidelines of the launch of its first showroom in Thane, Maharashtra. “We have a lot of inbound interest. The new round will be from a new set of investors,” he added. “We have plans to set up 40 dealerships across the country and will continue to expand our footprint,” Saran added.
Saran has set a target of selling around 40,000 vehicles a year and says profitability is a matter of choice for the company. “For now, we are focusing on addressing the total market and deepening our offerings,” he said. The company will look to offer loans and credit to its customers, primarily small pick-up vehicle drivers, he added. “We are also looking to expand in emerging markets where we feel the market demand and needs are homogenous. We are exploring markets such as Southeast Asia, Africa and South America, Saran said.