BluSmart Seeks Climate Funds To Revive Operations: Report

SUMMARY

The report said that the size and investment offered by the two funds remain larger than what was offered by Everstone Capital for acquisition

Last week Inc42 exclusively reported that EverStone is in talks to acquire the EV ride-hailing startup for around INR 800-1,000 Cr

The report further said that some of the existing investors are also looking to infuse more capital into the company

Troubled ride-hailing major BluSmart is reportedly in discussions with two climate and mobility-focused distressed funds to revive operations.

“One of the funds has been a large (business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) customer of BluSmart in Delhi,” as source told Business Standard.

While the size of the funds remains unknown, the report said that the size and investment offered by the two funds remain larger than what was offered by Everstone Capital for the acquisition earlier.

Last week Inc42 exclusively reported that Eversource is in talks to acquire the EV ride-hailing startup for around INR 800-1,000 Cr.

The report further said that some of the existing investors are also looking to infuse more capital into the company. Some notable institutional investors in BluSmart’s cap table include BP Ventures, Lightsource BP, responsAbility Investments AG, and Mayfield India Fund, among others.

Inc42 has reached out to BluSmart on the development. The story will be updated base on the responses from the company.

BluSmart, once positioned as a sustainable alternative to ride-hailing giants Ola and Uber, was struck with trouble after its founders were accused of funds misappropriation, forged documentation and stock market manipulation.

BluSmart’s sister concern, Gensol Electronics, witnessed the SEBI’s wrath after the market regulator in its interim order debarred the promoters Anmol and Puneet Jaggi from holding any position on the board as well as meddling with the securities market.

As a result, Gensol’s stock plummeted over 80%, leaving the retail investors and celebrity investors like Dhoni and Deepika in dismay.

Since then, BluSmart has shut its operations in Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru and ED has conducted raids in several Gensol premises and the house of the Juggi brothers.

Moreover, cofounder Puneet Singh Jaggi was also detained by the ED from a hotel in New Delhi while the other cofounder, Anmol Jaggi, was said to be in Dubai.

The company has also witnessed an exodus of people in the leadership roles lately. For instance, BluSmart’s independent director, Arun Meno, resigned earlier this month after CEO Anirudh Arun, CBO Tushar Garg, CTO Rishabh Sood, and VP of Experience Priya Chakravarthy resigned in previous months.

Founded in 2019 by Jaggi and Punit K Goyal, BluSmart offers EV ride-hailing services and charging infrastructure across Delhi NCR, Bengaluru and other megacities in India.

While the company claims to have the largest EV fleet in South Asia, with over 10,000 EVS, BluSmart cannot transfer, sell, or use the 175 EVS as collateral, limiting its ability to raise funds or restructure its fleet.

This is after the Delhi High Court recently issued an order restraining BluSmart Mobility and Gensol Engineering from transferring, selling, or creating any third-party rights over 175 EVs leased to them by Orix’s India arm, a Japanese financial services company.