Top 10 Investors Driving EV Dreams Into Reality For Startups

As India zoomed past Japan to be the third largest automobile market in the world in early 2024, the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem swerved into the fast lane, with policies driving down running costs and innovations going full throttle, backed by some of the most prolific investors in India.

A higher rate of switch from fossil fuel-run to battery-powered vehicles has helped India stay the course to its EV30@30 mission. In sync with the government’s 2017 projection that 30% of private car sales, 70% of commercial vehicle sales, 40% of bus sales, and 80% of two-wheeler and three-wheeler sales to be electric by 2030, the $54.4 Bn EV market in the country is likely to accelerate 2.4 times to reach $132.2 Bn by then, according to Inc42’s ‘India’s Electric Vehicle Startup Report 2025’. This journey will produce an estimated 5 Cr job opportunities.

When startups chose to hitch a ride on the booming EV market, investors too revved up to make the best use of a swing in the industry. Venture capitalists (VCs), private equity (PE) firms, and angel investors pumped more than $3.7 Bn across 236 deals into startups working in segments like original equipment manufacturing, electric motors and battery packs between 2014 and 2024.

We have also seen the rise of two EV unicorns – Ola Electric and Ather Energy – and four soonicorns – Batterysmart, Lohum, Zypp and BluSmart – along the way.

The investors, however, slammed the brakes in 2024, when private funding slowed down nearly 31% to $624 Mn across 43 deals. Stricter regulatory scrutiny of EVs, lack of clarity over incentivisation, and profitability concerns of startups played speed-breakers.

Some investors, though, refused to change the track and drove on, asserting confidence in the EV startup space which is estimated to reach $110.74 Bn by 2029. Inc42 has compiled a list of top ten such investors who have been instrumental in the growth of the market. 

The following list is based on the number of investment deals done with EV startups.

1. Blume Ventures

Founded in 2011 by Karthik Reddy and Sanjay Nath, Blume Ventures is an early-stage VC investor that claims to remain ‘lifelong partners’ for the startup. The Mumbai-based VC firm has made a total of 337 investments until now, backing startups like Purplle, LeverageEdu, Spinny and Namma Yatri.

In the EV sector, the VC firm’s investment portfolio includes 15 names, including Yulu, Battery Smart, Euler Motors, Ohm Mobility, Vecmocon and ElectricPe.

The firm invests in startups across sectors such as agritech, fintech, climate tech, artificial intelligence and deeptech. The early-stage venture capital firm announced 58 deals in 2024 alone.

2. Micelio Mobility 

Shreyas Shibulal set up Micelio Mobility in 2019 as an agent of change and enabler of sustainable and scalable solutions for a cleaner, better mobility ecosystem with clear social impact.

Micelio focuses primarily on pre-seed to Series A investments in early-stage startups, including OEMs, infrastructure providers, component suppliers, and service providers. Out of its 18 investments so far, the Bengaluru-based firm has backed nine EV startups, including ElectricPe and RACEnergy.

Earlier this year, Micelio, along with AdvantEdge Founders-backed Bengaluru-based electric tractor startup Moonrider, infused $2.2 Mn (INR 19 Cr) in a seed funding round to strengthen its capabilities in vehicle engineering, vehicle software and battery technology.

3. Venture Catalysts

Set up by Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Anil Jain, Anuj Golecha and Gaurav Jain, Venture Catalysts is a multi-stage VC firm that has backed more than 360 startups including the likes SmartJoules, Skye Air Mobility, Butterfly Learnings, and ControlZ, since its inception in 2016.

The VC firm has invested in seven EV startups, including Zypp Electric, Charge+Zone and ION Energy. Its latest EV investment was BluWheelz in 2024.

It has exited over 93 startups as of 2024, including fintech unicorn BharatPe, Reliance-acquired Fynd, Rooter, and Pee Safe.

4. Anicut Capital

Ashvin Chadha founded Anicut Capital in 2015 to focus on startups operating across sectors at multiple stages. Its portfolio includes the likes of Wow! Momo, Bira, Sugar Cosmetics, Earth Rhythm, Wingreens, Blue Tokai, ShareChat and Mcaffeine.

So far, it has invested in six EV startups, including Chargeup, Attron and The ePlane Company. Its last EV investment was in Attron Automotive in March 2024. 

Anicut Capital manages six diverse funds, including three debt funds and three equity funds, and claims to have INR 3,000 Cr in assets under its management. Most recently, the VC firm raised $11 Mn (nearly INR 92 Cr) in dollar-denominated investments through a feeder fund based out of Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City.

5. 3one4 Capital

Founded in 2015 by Pranav and Siddarth Pai, 3one4 Capital is an early stage venture capital firm that invests in startups operating in sectors of SaaS, enterprise and SMB (small and medium business) automation, fintech, consumer internet, and digital health. 

The Bengaluru-based firm has invested in five EV companies like Exponent Energy, The ePlane Company and Vidyut. It last invested $10 Mn in Vidyut through a mix of debt and equity in February 2024.

3one4 manages a corpus of above INR 3,710 Cr and Assets under management of over INR 6,000Cr. Its portfolio consists of more than 80 companies across the early stage category. 

Out of its portfolio, the firm has backed unicorns such as neobanking fintech startup OPEN and meat delivery unicorn Licious.

6. AdvantEdge Founders

Founded in 2015 by Kunal Khattar, AdvantEdge Founders is a mobility-focussed early-stage VC firm and incubator space that focuses on investing in startups operating in the mobility sectors such as smart vehicles, digital auto, electric mobility as well as logistics.

It has backed EV startups, including Exponent Energy, Baaz Bikes and Electrifi Mobility of its five investments in the EV sector. It last invested in Moonrider, along with Micelio, and others.

Since its inception, AdvantEdge has backed 48 companies, with two new investments made in the last 12 months. Its portfolio includes the links of Rapido, Zingbus, Skylark Drones and GamingMonk.

7. Green Frontier Capital

Green Frontier Capital is a US-based VC fund focused on backing startups in industries like electric mobility, foodtech, agritech, renewable energy, biofuels, waste management, clean water, sustainable lifestyles.

Founded in 2020 by Sandiip Bhammer, the firm entered the Indian market through the foreign direct investment (FDI) route and has deployed $30 Mn across more than 10 companies in four years with an average ticket size of $2.4-2.5 Mn.

Its portfolio spans startups such as BluSmart Mobility, Chupps and ElectricPe. In the EV sector alone, the firm has backed five companies. Green Frontier last invested $3 Mn in ElectricPe along with the company’s existing investors.

In November 2024, Green Frontier Capital reached another milestone and launched its first India-based CAT II AIF under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

8. growX ventures

Deeptech-focused venture capital firm growX ventures was established in 2008 by Ashish Taneja. It has so far invested in 46 startups across sectors like spacetech, semiconductors, robotics, genomics, AI and cybersecurity since 2012. Prominent names of the firm’s investments include Pixxel, Aereo, Wiom and Quandl.

The company has so far backed 17 startups, five of which were EV players. They include RACEnergy and Cell Propulsion.

In December 2024, the Delhi NCR-based investment firm floated its second fund with a target corpus of INR 400 Cr (around $47.12 Mn) to deepen its focus on deeptech and enterprise tech.

9. Speciale Invest

Founded in 2016 by Vishesh Rajaram and Arjun Rao, Speciale Invest backs early stage deeptech startups operating across industries like AI, SaaS, cleantech, spacetech with an average cheque size of $100K to $500K.

In the EV sector, the firm has so far invested in five companies, including Ultraviolette, The ePlane Company and e-TRNL Energy. It invested $14 Mn in The ePlane Company alongside Antares Ventures, and others, in November 2024.

Invest funds startups working in areas such as spacetech, green hydrogen, robotics, green mobility, quantumtech and AI-led platforms. As of February 2025, the firm has so far made over 29 investments and has successfully completed six exits.

10. Tiger Global

Tiger Global, the US crossover fund entered India in 2007, but went on a major investment spree only from 2014, when it backed the likes of Flipkart, Zomato, Ola and Policybazaar.

The global VC has backed five startups in the EV sector, including Battery Smart and IPO-bound Ather Energy. It last invested in Battery Smart in July 2023.

Among the multiple startups that it has invested in, the firm counts more than 40 out of India’s 118 unicorns and around 20 of the 100 soonicorns from the country.

A huge number of its portfolio companies, including Urban Company, PhonePe, Meesho and OfBusiness are set to hit the exchanges this year.