M&M Leads $40-Million Funding To Aid Zoomcar’s Electric Vehicle Push

Zoomcar raises $40 million in Mahindra & Mahindra-led round, to roll out scooter rental services soon. 

Greg Moran, Co-founder,  Zoomcar

Self-drive car and bicycle rental platform Zoomcar raised $40 million (around Rs 266 crore) in a funding round led by Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., months after the two companies partnered for an electric vehicle push.

The fresh round also saw participation from other existing investors including Ford Smart Mobility, Greg Moran, co-founder and CEO of Zoomcar, told BloombergQuint in an interview. Mahindra Group would invest up to Rs 176 crore for about 16 percent stake in Zoomcar Inc, M&M said in a statement.

The investment by M&M comes just months after Zoomcar partnered with the auto giant to accelerate its electric vehicle push. At present, Zoomcar has about 50 battery-powered vehicles on its platform and plans to add 500.

M&M has been investing in shared mobility. It recently partnered with cab-hailing major Ola for manufacturing electric vehicles.

"We are confident that this partnership with Zoomcar will help further our vision to transform mobility in the country, thereby creating a more connected ecosystem,” M&M Managing Director Pawan Goenka said.

The fresh capital will be used for accelerating its marketplace supply growth, doubling down on its efforts on Internet of things and expanding into additional mobility categories across India, Moran said. The company recently forayed into bike-sharing services in select cities.

The firm is looking to launch two-wheeler rental service on its platform, Moran said. “You will see us going for services such as scooter rental or electric scooter rental, which will take off this year.”

Zoomcar said in a statement that it expects the fresh funding to help have over 15,000 subscriber vehicles on the platform before the end of 2018.

The Bengaluru headquartered firm’s total fund-raise now stands at $90 million.

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