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About seven years ago, two mobility enthusiasts, Aditya Puppala and Gayatri Jadhav, met each other while working at Ashok Leyland in Hosur, TamilNadu, where they collaborated on multiple projects. One such project led them to a ground survey on the commercial vehicle industry.

They observed that the commercial vehicles in use were large three- and four-wheelers, which posed financial and operational challenges. In some cases, two-wheelers were also being used as commercial vehicles.

“We saw the risks in using two-wheelers as commercial vehicles and the huge operational losses involved in big three-wheelers and four-wheelers,” says Puppala.

Puppala and Jadhav realised the absence of smaller entry-level commercial vehicles in the market for use in deliveries and last-mile mobility.

After indepth research for over six months, both of them founded Speedloop Auto in April 2020, with an investment of around Rs 12 lakh, to create a right-sized electric vehicle for planned intracity deliveries, which would set new standards for the future of mobility.

“Our vision is to transform last-mile mobility through the development of a new generation of small commercial vehicles, designed to address specific market needs and deliver efficient, sustainable transport solutions,” explains Puppala, who is now based in Pune along with his co-founder.

Building reliable small commercial vehicles

Speedloop Auto has developed two electric models for commercial release: CROC EV and STIGER EV. BOth models are three-wheelers, with two wheels in front and one wheel at the rear.

CROC EV is a budget-friendly micro commercial vehicle with a load capacity of 100 kg/350 litres and a starting price of Rs 2 lakh.

STIGER EV, a premium model, has a load capacity of 250 kg/500 litres; prices start at Rs 2.3 lakh and go up to Rs 3 lakh.

The average cost of a three-wheel commercial vehicle is Rs 3.2 lakh, says Puppala.

Both CROC and STIGER come in multiple variants, with a range (distance covered on a single charge) of 40-120 km and top speeds of 25 kmph to 60 kmph.

The vehicles are powered by lithium-ion batteries designed for daily urban delivery operations. They feature ergonomic seats to reduce driver fatigue and enhance productivity.

According to Puppala, Speedloop’s vehicles are 20-30% bigger than a two-wheeler, half the size of a three-wheeler, and about 1/3rd-1/4th the size of a four-wheeler.

Business model and market opportunities

Speedloop Auto’s vehicles are in the pre-sales stage at the moment, and extensive trials are being undertaken with potential customers. The startup hopes to start commercial launch of its vehicles from December this year.

The vehicles will be sold through dealerships for retail customers, including driver entrepreneurs and fleet owners. To boost initial adoption, Speedloop plans to give a few vehicles on lease to cater to the needs of ecommerce companies performing B2B2C deliveries.

Jadhav says Speedloop Auto hopes to sell 500-600 vehicles in FY24-25 with a revenue of Rs 11 crore, and is targeting sales of 10,000 vehicles in the next financial year.

With startups and D2C brands increasingly outsourcing deliveries to third parties, the logistics sector is set for substantial growth.

Given the concerns of pollution and carbon emissions, the demand for electric vehicles in the logistics sectors is steadily growing. The electric commercial vehicles market is expected to reach $920.9 billion by 2031 at a CAGR of 25.4% from 2024 – 2031.

Speedloop Auto can not only help reduce the carbon footprint of deliveries but can also bring down the total cost of ownership for B2B2C operations, says Puppala.

The startup claims the operating costs of its vehicles are 40-60% lower than that of larger commercial vehicles, making them efficient and low-cost logistics solutions.

Speedloop competes with Zen Mobility in the payload segment up to 300 kg. The low-speed models of Kinetic, Mahindra, and Komaki are also other competitors.

“Going by the layout (two wheels front, one wheel rear), we do not have any competition,” says Puppala.

Speedloops’ vehicles can be used for delivery of milk, water, fresh foods, and grocery; transportation of goods like apparel; parcel delivery; porter services; and on-road servicing.

Speedloop has so far raised Rs 10 crore in funding, primarily for R&D and factory setup.

Of this, Rs 7 crore came from marquee angel investors from the automotive industry—including Vinod K Dasari (former MD, Ashok Leyland), Kishor Patel (MD and CEO, KPIT), Rohan Cherian (Founder, Assentio Legal), and Sachin Tikekar (Joint-MD at KPIT).

About Rs 80 lakh came from grants and government soft loan, while Rs 1.9 crore was from a nationalised bank under the CGTMSE scheme(Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises).

The startup is looking to raise another Rs 10 crore for its go-to-market strategies.