Indian electric van maker for Amazon raises funds

Amazon delivery packages are seen outside a shop in Ahmedabad, India, October 5, 2021. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo

NEW DELHI, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Indian start-up EVage, which is building electric delivery vans for e-commerce and logistics companies including Amazon.com Inc , has raised $28 million from U.S.-based venture capital firm RedBlue Capital, the company said on Friday.

The seed money will help EVage complete its factory in northern India and begin delivery of “thousands of vehicles” that are on order, Inderveer Singh, the company’s founder and chief executive told Reuters.

Singh did not comment on the number of orders but said it has been working with companies, including Amazon, to design and test its one-tonne electric van which it will launch this year.

Like electric vehicle (EV) makers Rivian in the United States and Arrival in the UK, EVage is betting on a global shift by delivery companies to cleaner mobility.

In India’s nascent EV market, Amazon aims to have 10,000 EVs for deliveries by 2025 while Walmart Inc’s (WMT.N) Flipkart plans to have 25,000 EVs by 2030. EVage is the first company building an electric van in India from the ground-up.

“Vehicle miles traveled on EVs in India will explode with this shift in movement of goods, and electrifying this segment is a huge opportunity,” Olaf Sakkers, general partner at RedBlue Capital said.

Compared with the West, India and markets like Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America have unique demands in terms of the price and capacity of the vehicle, road conditions and weather, said Sakkers, whose firm invests in mobility start-ups globally.

“We see EVage as more of a Rivian and Arrival for developing markets,” he said.

Reporting by Aditi Shah
Editing by Shri Navaratnam

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