As India accelerates toward a cleaner mobility future, one startup is redefining how people discover, experience, and own electric vehicles. Lilypad, co-founded by Uday Parmar, is pioneering a digital-first, customer-centric platform that turns EV buying into a seamless, smartphone-like experience. Instead of spending hours at dealerships, customers can now explore, test, and buy electric two-wheelers from the comfort of their homes. With a model built around convenience and trust, Lilypad is bridging the gap between online discovery and real-world experience — bringing the future of mobility straight to people’s doorsteps.
In a recent interaction, Rashmi Verma spoke with Uday Parmar – Co-Founder of Lilypad, and discussed how the company is transforming EV distribution in India. Uday shared insights on Lilypad’s full-stack EV platform, strategic partnerships with brands like Bajaj, Ather, EMotorad, Swiggy, and Zomato, and its Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) model that makes EV ownership more affordable and reliable. From building a hybrid discovery-to-delivery experience to enabling intelligent fleet management through technology, Lilypad is creating an integrated ecosystem for both individuals and businesses. As it gears up for its next growth phase, Lilypad envisions becoming the “operating system” for India’s EV revolution — one simplified, connected experience at a time.
What inspired the creation of Lilypad, and how are you reimagining the way electric vehicles are distributed and experienced in India?
Lilypad was born out of a simple question: Why is buying an EV still so complicated in India?
When we looked closer at how two-wheeler EVs were being distributed, we realized that customers visiting showrooms often spent an entire day just to complete the process from inquiries to test rides to paperwork. It felt unnecessarily tedious. We wondered, if people can buy iPhones and other high-value products online, why can’t they buy an electric scooter the same way?
That’s how Lilypad came into being with a mission to simplify EV buying. We designed a model that lets customers explore → try → buy, all in just a few clicks. Whether it’s bringing the vehicle to your doorstep for a demo or purchasing from the comfort of your bed, that’s the convenience we’re building.
While most of the industry was focused on improving the product,, we decided to focus on distribution.
Questions like:
- Where do you find reliable information about 2W EVs?
- Where can you actually see and experience the product?
- Which suits your needs better: a high-speed fixed battery scooter, a swappable low-speed one, or an electric cycle?
- Should you buy, lease, or rent?
Lilypad is simplifying all of that. We’re making EV discovery, experience, and purchase as seamless as ordering your next smartphone.
You describe Lilypad as India’s first “full-stack EV platform.” What does that mean for customers and business partners in terms of accessibility, service, and ecosystem integration?
When we say Lilypad is India’s first full-stack EV platform, we mean that we don’t just connect buyers to EVs, we own the entire customer journey from discovery to delivery and beyond.
For customers, it’s all about end-to-end simplicity and accessibility. You can browse and compare EVs online, schedule a home demo or visit the right dealership, choose to buy or lease the vehicle, and even access charging and maintenance all through a single digital interface, Lilypad. In short, we’re turning what used to be a fragmented, time-consuming process into a smooth, one-stop experience.
For our business partners, being full-stack means growth through integration. We help OEMs market and sell their EVs more effectively, support our Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) partners by promoting fast, on-the-go charging, and extend visibility to our RSA (Roadside Assistance) and maintenance partners.
Lilypad acts as a unified digital layer for the entire ecosystem connecting OEMs, BaaS providers, maintenance and RSA players, and last-mile delivery companies. We streamline their sales, distribution, and fleet operations while creating a richer, more connected market for everyone involved.
Our mission is simple: make EV ownership effortless for customers and EV growth scalable for partners.
What are the biggest pain points you see in India’s EV distribution model—such as high upfront costs, limited awareness, or infrastructure gaps—and how is Lilypad addressing them differently from OEMs or traditional dealerships?
The biggest friction points in India’s EV distribution model today are discovery, affordability, and trust.
Most buyers are still unsure which EV best fits their lifestyle, how to finance it, or even where they’ll charge it. Traditional dealerships are largely product-centric, not solution-centric. They focus on selling vehicles, not on solving the customer’s broader pain points.
Another major gap is accessibility. On average, a petrol vehicle showroom is about 2 km away from you but an EV showroom could be 10–15 km away. This distance drastically reduces walk-ins and, in turn, dealership sales.
That’s exactly where Lilypad changes the game. We’re reimagining EV distribution around the customer, not the product. Here’s how we do it:
- Digital Discovery & Education: Through www.lilypad.co.in, users can explore a one-stop digital showroom that recommends the right EV based on their use case and total cost of ownership.
- Expert Guidance: Buyers can connect directly with our EV specialists via phone or WhatsApp to get personalized, unbiased recommendations.
- Home Demos: Once they shortlist 1–2 models, we bring the scooter right to their doorstep for a trial — or schedule and coordinate a visit to the nearest dealership.
- Flexible Financing & Battery-as-a-Service: Through partnerships like Battery Smart, we help customers lower upfront costs and explore smarter ownership with leasing or battery swapping.
By blending online convenience with physical assurance, Lilypad eliminates the friction that holds back EV adoption. We’re building confidence, accessibility, and trust in the EV ecosystem.
Your model integrates online discovery, doorstep demos, and physical touchpoints. How does this hybrid approach simplify EV adoption for first-time buyers and fleet operators?
Buying an EV shouldn’t feel like a leap of faith, it should feel like an upgrade.
Our hybrid model makes that experience possible. It seamlessly blends online convenience with physical touchpoints. Users can begin their EV journey on our platform, explore and compare models, and then request a doorstep demo — where they can test the vehicle in their own environment, whether that’s for personal use or for a fleet.
For fleet operators, we go a step further. Our dedicated B2B onboarding team handles the entire process from showcasing vehicles and conducting demos or trial runs, to enabling remote fleet monitoring through our IoT dashboards.
This hybrid approach bridges the digital and physical gap. It makes EV adoption intuitive, transparent, and confidence-driven ensuring that both first-time buyers and businesses experience the future of mobility in the most seamless way possible.
Lilypad serves both individual consumers and corporate clients through B2C sales and B2B fleet management. How do you balance these two segments while maintaining operational efficiency and customer satisfaction?
We don’t see our operations as B2C versus B2B at the core, we’re helping people buy, rent, or manage EVs in the most seamless way possible.
For individual consumers, our online marketplace www.lilypad.co.in is built around personalization and transparency helping customers find the right EV at the right price, with complete clarity on features, financing, and ownership options.
On the fleet side, we primarily work with last-mile delivery companies, but the vehicles are ultimately rented to individual riders. For this segment, technology becomes the key enabler from onboarding riders to managing vehicle uptime, payments, and performance tracking.
That’s why we’ve built an integrated Fleet Management SaaS platform, which brings together multiple tech layers, telematics, payment systems, and maintenance tracking into one unified solution. It’s currently in internal testing and will be live by November.
By developing tailored technology stacks for each use case, we’re able to balance both segments effortlessly while maintaining high operational efficiency and strong customer satisfaction across the board.
You’ve partnered with brands like Bajaj, Ather, and EMotorad, and have MOUs with logistics leaders like Swiggy, Zomato, and Blinkit. How are these collaborations driving scale and innovation for Lilypad?
Partnerships are at the heart of Lilypad’s growth. We’ve built a model that thrives on collaboration.
Working with OEMs like Bajaj, Ather, and EMotorad has been instrumental in bringing our Home Demo model to life. These partnerships not only expand our product portfolio but also bring trusted, high-quality brands directly to customers, making the EV experience more reliable and accessible.
On the other hand, collaborations with logistics and delivery leaders like Zomato, Swiggy, and Blinkit give us deep visibility into large-scale fleet requirements. This helps us understand which vehicles, battery solutions, and service models best address operational challenges for businesses running extensive delivery networks.
Then there’s Battery Smart, our BaaS (Battery as a Service) partner, and Battwheels Garages, our vehicle servicing and RSA (Roadside Assistance) partner both critical in ensuring smooth ownership and uptime for individual and fleet users alike.
Together, these partnerships create a continuous feedback loop of innovation. OEMs gain valuable market insights, fleets benefit from optimized vehicle utilization, and Lilypad acts as the connective layer, intelligently scaling EV adoption across both B2C and B2B segments.
Could you elaborate on Lilypad’s Battery-as-a-Service model—and how that improves performance, cost efficiency, and reliability?
One of the biggest barriers to EV adoption in India has always been the high upfront cost, largely driven by the battery, which can account for 35–40% of a two-wheeler’s price. Lilypad’s Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) model addresses this challenge by decoupling battery ownership from vehicle ownership.
Through partnerships with ecosystem players like Battery Smart, Lilypad allows riders to subscribe to batteries instead of buying them outright. This means customers pay only for battery usage, not ownership, significantly lowering the entry cost for an electric two-wheeler.
But affordability is just one part of the equation. The BaaS model also ensures high performance and reliability. Riders can swap depleted batteries for fully charged ones in minutes, eliminating range anxiety and downtime. With constantly refreshed and well-maintained batteries, users enjoy consistent performance, peace of mind, and a truly hassle-free EV experience.
As you plan to raise funding by the end of 2025, what are your top priorities for the next growth phase, and how do you envision Lilypad’s role in India’s broader transition to mass EV adoption?
As we plan our funding round by the end of 2025, our focus is on scaling intelligently — across people, product, and partnerships to drive the next phase of growth.
Our key priorities include:
● Team and infrastructure expansion: Hiring around 25 new team members and moving into a larger workspace to foster collaboration and support our growth ambitions.
● Brand building and awareness: Investing in extensive on-ground activations to engage communities, educate customers, and create real EV awareness at the grassroots level.
● Scaling our Fleet SaaS platform: Enabling management of over 5,000 vehicles with deeper analytics, real-time performance insights, and optimized operations for fleet partners.
● Enhancing our technology stack: Building smarter discovery tools, including voice- and chatbot-driven interactions, AI-powered demand forecasting, and advanced fleet intelligence.
At a broader level, we see Lilypad as the operating system for India’s EV transition, a unifying platform that brings together OEMs, fleets, individual riders, and service providers. Our mission is to simplify adoption, accelerate mass EV uptake, and drive India toward a zero-emission mobility future.
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