EV Financing Startup Ascend Capital Bags INR 50 Cr For Business Expansion

EV financing company Ascend Capital has raised INR 50 Cr in its Series A funding round co-led by InfoEdge Ventures and Asha Ventures for expansion.

Founded by Lokesh Chandra and Gaurav Maheshwari, Ascend Capital is an RBI-registered NBFC that aims to become a forefront player in building India’s mobility finance industry. 

The company said that in its initial years, it had focussed on a single geography and became one of its leading players while remaining profitable.

“With this fundraiser, Ascend plans to expand its book across multiple geographies further and reach an AUM (asset under management) of INR 300 Cr over the next two years,” said Chandra.

Speaking on funding the company, Pramod Bhasin of Asha Ventures said that the availability of EV financing, especially to the vulnerable segments of society, is critical to enabling India to achieve its net zero ambitions. 

“…we believe our investment will help them create a market-leading platform and catalyse flow of capital to this rapidly growing segment,” Bhasin said.

It is pertinent to note that with the growing numbers of EVs in India and a greater push to establish the ecosystem, the need for robust financing options is also becoming important. Unlike conventional auto financing, EV financing requires additional knowledge of the battery the battery and the structural quality of the vehicle. 

However, being a nascent industry, it still faces challenges ranging from high interest rates to a general lack of understanding about EVs and apprehensions about their battery life.

Ascend claims to have created an internal standard benchmark to value the underlying assets such as batteries.

Besides, the company also claims to have created an in-house repository of data on OEMs, distributors and drivers, which helps them operationally in both underwriting and collecting the loans disbursed. 

Chinmaya Sharma, Partner at InfoEdge Ventures said that the fundraise will further consolidate Ascend’s lead as one of the top EV financing platforms in the country.

In the EV financing space, the company competes against the likes of Revfin, Mufin Green Finance, Ecofy and Vidyut, among others.

As per a report, the EV financing market is expected to reach $4.37 Bn, growing at a CAGR of above 15% over the next five years.