EV Startup EVage Raises $28 Mn To Make Commercial Vehicles

Electric commercial vehicle startup EVage has raised $28 Mn in seed funding from RedBlue Capital.

Founded in 2019 by Inderveer Singh and Pulkit Srivastava, EVage aims to supply all-electric commercial vehicles to the delivery fleets of Indian logistics companies. It will use the freshly-infused capital to complete its ‘production-ready’ factory outside Delhi in FY2022-23 and scale up production. 

The startup’s first envisioned model, the Model .X is a one-tonne truck designed for the commercial delivery market and was built in close coordination with early fleet customers. EVage claims to be the supplier to Amazon India’s delivery partner among others. 

The startup also claims to have created India’s first electric vehicle (EV) which can serve as an affordable common architecture for SUVs, vans, delivery vehicles and trucks. The Model .X is built on the same structure. 

“When we pioneered our highly adaptive and modular multi-vehicle platform in 2014, it was a journey into the unknown. The success of new global OEMs and their impact on electrifying transport in the US & Europe is a testament to what we can do in India and other price-sensitive countries,” said Inderveer Singh, founder and CEO at EVage. 

According to EVage, it will manufacture vehicles in ‘modular micro-manufacturing’ factories, leveraging proprietary hardware, software and process innovations. The startup believes this can be done with smaller footprints and fewer capital requirements than legacy OEMs. 

“EVage’s vehicle platform and fabrication approach is something totally new and much needed to accelerate electrification in low-cost markets. The founders took a completely clean-sheet approach to get a truck that meets the needs of delivery fleets across India at a cost basis that beats internal combustion,” said Prescott Watson, general partner at RedBlue Capital.

EVs only accounted for about 1.3% of all the vehicle sales in the country during 2020-21. But the market is still in its infancy in the country and was projected to grow at a CAGR of 90% from 2021 to 2030. 

Earlier this week, eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft startup The ePlane Company had raised $5 Mn in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Speciale Invest and Micelio.