Simple Energy is an electric vehicle startup, building the next-generation electric scooters incorporated in August 2019. The Bengaluru-based EV startup announced on Tuesday that the latest round of funding from a clutch of investors has raised over $20 million USD (rupees 165 crores). The funding raised in an ongoing bridge round will be utilized to ramp up production of the highly anticipated Simple One electric scooter.
The company has been postponing the One electric scooters vehicle deliveries since December 2021 after its launch. Rajkumar attributed the reasons for the delay of the maiden e-scooter Simple One “There is no point if we deliver 10,000 scooters and stop delivering after that. We would rather sort out the supply chain and borrow time from the consumers to perfect the system in this new industry. No one expected the EV industry to grow at this stage, so we must give the supply chains some time to understand,” he said.
“We have received a phenomenal pre-booking response, and to cater to the demand, we are raising funds in a timely manner. The funds raised will be strategically used to aid the production ramp-up and for a quicker delivery commencement”, said Suhas Rajkumar, founder and CEO of Simple Energy.
The latest funding round saw participation from a number of prominent investors, including Dr. Arokiaswamy Velumani, Founder of Thyrocare Technologies Limited, Ashwin Hinduja of Gokaldas Group, Sanjay and Sandeep Wadhawa of Nash Industries, Sripriya Kalyanasundaram, Chief Strategy and Evangelist to CEO’s office, Lambda Test, Purple Moon Ventures, and existing investors like Manish Bharti and Vasavi Green Tech.
The EV startup introduced its first e-scooter, the Simple One, on August 15 last year. The company claims to have received 50,000 advance bookings for this e-scooter, which will begin shipping across India in June. It is preparing to deliver about 30,000 scooters in the first 100 days. By November of this year, it aims to sell 50,000 units, and by June, it wants to sell 100,000 units.
The CEO of the company also stated that Simple One e-scooters and their batteries will have a 3 years warranty and unlimited km.
“Going forward, we are also looking at a buyback scheme option for the battery. Closer to May, we will also announce tie-ups with banks for EV financing”. He claimed that the major cities account for about 80% of e-scooter bookings and Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities for the remaining 20%. The average customer age ranges from 25 to 45 years old.
Rajkumar expects the government to support the startup companies by extending subsidies for EVs since the scale is yet to be achieved, including startups in the PLI scheme, to bring safety regulations for battery packs, work with governments across the world for supply chain issues and increase local production.
With an initial investment of Rs 100 crore, the business recently opened a new facility in Shoolagiri, Tamil Nadu, according to a recent statement from Simple Energy. The two-wheeler EV startup also intends to release a second, more affordable scooter with a range of prices between INR 65000 and INR 85,000. By FY25, the company wants to introduce its electric car.
