Fuel Delivery Startup FuelBuddy Raises $20 Mn Funding

New Delhi-based FuelBuddy has raised $20 Mn in a funding round led by Naveen Jindal Group, Ravi Jaipuria Group (RJ Corp) and Nilesh Ved (Apparel Group, UAE).

The fuel delivery startup will deploy the funding to begin operations in the UAE market, along with expansion across India and Southeast Asia (SEA). FuelBuddy also plans to deploy the incoming funding to expand its geographical presence in India, improve its tech stack and expand to alternative energies such as electricity and gas.

Founded in 2016 by Adnan Kidwai, Divij Talwar, Gautam Malhotra, and SK Narvar, FuelBuddy is a doorstep fuel delivery startup. The startup also offers fuel management services through its IoT-based products, along with fuel storage and monitoring solutions via IoT.

The startup also offers supply chain solutions using cloud computing to enable customers to use analytics to control and monitor fuel usage. The startup’s solutions can also reorder fuel automatically, based on the rate of fuel consumption and the amount of fuel left.

FuelBuddy recently partnered with Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) in the lubricants space.

Speaking on the funding, SK Narvar, the promoter of the startup, said, “We are confident that FuelBuddy will emerge as a leader in the international markets as well. FuelBuddy’s transformative solutions in the Indian markets have helped us grow exponentially and strengthen our business across geographies.”

Excluding the current funding round, FuelBuddy has raised around INR 40 Cr (around $5 Mn) across funding rounds. The startup claims to have served more than 45,000 customers across 130 cities. 

FuelBuddy also served B2B customers, with the startup claiming to have delivered more than 9 Cr litres of diesel to companies such as Coca-Cola, Amazon, DLF, Flipkart, Mahindra Logistics and Delhivery, among others.

In 2021, the New Delhi-based startup acquired Bengaluru-based on-demand fuel delivery startup MyPetrolPump in a cash and stock deal. The startup competes with the likes of Pepfuels, Repos Energy, The Fuel Delivery, ReadyAssist and others.

According to a Mordor Intelligence report, the automotive fuel delivery system market is set to reach $5.29 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 5.8% between 2021 and 2027.

The report pointed out that the Asia-Pacific region was expected to lead in the market as automotive production grows across key markets including India and China.