Gurugram-based Twenty Two Motors Pvt Ltd has raised $1.6 Mn in a Pre-Series A round of funding led by Ishwar Singh, CEO, Haryana Industries. Farhaan Shabbir, former director of Harley-Davidson also joined the investment round. With this move, he also joined the startup as a founding member.
Founded in August 2016 by Parveen Kharb and Vijay Chandrawat, Twenty Two Motors aims to make cutting edge EV (electric vehicle) technology affordable for the current generation. The startup is planning to launch its Smart Scooter for the masses in Q1, 2018.
Parveen is an automation engineer and has 15 years experience in the automobile industry. Co-founder Vijay graduated from IIT Delhi and has about 14 years of experience in technology, strategy and operations.
Parveen Kharb, co-founder & CEO, Twenty Two Motors said, “Tremendous work has been done in the prototyping and developing of the highly effective EV since our launch. We have been able to attract seasoned and quality talent from major auto companies. Major hurdles of developing Lithium-ion battery, battery management system & smart electronics have also been resolved.”
Current electrical vehicle available in India are neither affordable, nor fast. The startup has also developed Lithium Ion battery pack and Battery Management Systems, taking into consideration Indian temperature. It optimises performance and battery life.
According to a company statement, the Smart Scooter will be fully IoT-compliant and have devices like GPS, GPRS, gyroscope, accelerometer etc. The user will be connected to the scooter via a mobile app. The app can also be used to control scooter access remotely. As information pertaining to the scooter will be available on the cloud, troubleshooting and maintenance can be managed automatically.
The startup will use the funding to build Proof of Concept, apart from strengthening its human resource capabilities. The investment will broadly be channeled for prototype vehicle development, testing, strengthening team, component development and factory setup.
Bengaluru-based startup Ather Energy launched the S340, a Smart electric scooter, in February 2016. In January 2017, the government reportedly announced to bear up to 60% of the research and development (R&D) cost for developing indigenous low-cost electric technology. The project will be undertaken under the Technology Platform for Electric Mobility (TPEM) – a joint initiative of the departments of heavy industry (DHI) and science and technology (DST). In February 2017, manufacturing giant Hero’s Hero Electric launched its latest product, E-scooter ‘FLASH’.
