Yamaha Motors Leads Funding In EV Startup Electriq

Electric two-wheeler startup Electriq has secured an undisclosed investment from Yamaha Motors’ subsidiary Moto Business Service India (MBSI). It is the 14th investment made by MBSI this year (2022). 

Prior to this, MBSI infused money in Royal Brothers-India’s bike rental business, two-wheeler rental startup Rentelo, electric startup Malbork, ride-hailing startup Rapido, among others.

With the current fundraising, MBSI has partnered with Electriq to launch 1250 units of electric scooters and 50 units of electric cycles in Hyderabad, Karnataka. 

According to the startup, Yamaha also looks to manage 5K+ electric vehicles along with Electriq in Hyderabad and other cities during this fiscal year (FY22). 

“We are extremely thrilled to kickstart the partnership with MBSI with a batch of electric vehicles. Electriq will provide quality, economical, affordable products, spares, after-sales services and mobility solutions to consumers and build an ecosystem to support MSMEs develop their products more efficiently,” said Anand Thakur, CEO and founder of Electriq.

Founded in 2021 by Thakur, Electriq is an IT, web and app-based platform that tracks electric vehicles and their vehicle drivers. It operates via business-to-business and business-to-consumer streams. 

Under the B2B space, it sells electric vehicles to aggregators including Zepto and Swiggy whilst in B2C space, it sells electric vehicles to individual customers. Its vehicles are priced between INR 75K and INR 88K. 

Electriq informed that its vehicles are installed with IoT devices that share real-time location of vehicles and vehicle drivers. It further stated that it will now enter Southern India, Delhi and Kolkata by partnering with more companies thereby, offering its solutions.

“We are extremely excited to officially kick start our operations in the EV sector in Hyderabad by  partnering with Electriq. We will continue to onboard electric vehicles across multiple cities and generate employment avenues for Indian youth. We plan to work with more mobility companies in the future and to transform the entire shared mobility space by bringing our financial and strategic experience from our  stakeholders,” said Shoji Shiraishi, managing director of MBSI.

Founded in March 2022, MBSI is a mobility business of Yamaha Motors that offers asset management and services. As per MBSI, it provides vehicle leasing and other allied services to electric mobility startups. It aims to increase the usage of electric vehicles on rental platforms, create employment opportunities and improve the living style of people.

MBSI said its stakeholders include Yamaha Motor and Yamaha Motor Biz Partner. In the last year, it has managed 3.5K+ assets and looks to invest INR 100 Cr in managing its vehicles in 2023. It also aims to manage 1 Mn vehicles by 2028. 

MBSI claims that it looks to expand its services across various cities in the next few months. It has also partnered with last-mile delivery companies in Delhi, Chennai and Bengaluru.

Other EV startups that operate in the Indian electric mobility space include Battery Smart, Chargeup, Esmito and RACEnergy, among others. 

As per a Mordor Intelligence report, the country’s EV market is projected to grow $15,397 Bn by 2027. Meanwhile, another report states that the EV sector would expand at a CAGR of 94.4% between 2021 and 2030.