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EV manufacturer Altigreen on Friday said it has raised $39.8 million investment in its Series A round to boost its EV manufacturing to launch new products including LCVs and strengthen its countrywide presence.

The investment was led by Sixth Sense Ventures, along with Reliance New Energy, Xponentia Capital, Accurant International, US, and Momentum Venture Capital, Singapore. Reliance New Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited invested $6.66 million into the startup, said the listed company in an exchange filing yesterday.

This Series A fund raise was supported by boutique investment banking firm Four-S and Ostara Advisors, India’s first electric mobility focused investment bank.

“This is the most opportune time to invest our efforts in boosting EV manufacturing to cater to the rising aspirations and demands of the customers,” said Amitabh Saran and Shalendra Gupta, co-founders of Altigreen Propulsion Labs, “The future of India’s automobile industry is electric and we have already laid out a roadmap to achieve fast-EV adoption, mainly in the commercial segment.”

“The deeper ecommerce penetration and growth in last-mile delivery have catapulted the demand for commercial, road-ready EVs and this year will definitely be a transformative year for us. Elated to have marquee investors and believers like Sixth Sense, Reliance, Xponentia and others,” they added.

The company said it plans to use the ramp up production capabilities, accelerate R&D, fast-paced EV adoption and develop a robust Pan-India network to offer the best and cleanest last-mile transportation solutions in India.

With its road-ready commercial EVs, powered by its proprietary drivetrain technology, Altigreen is already changing the face of last-mile delivery and, with this funding, will rapidly accelerate towards its next phase of growth.

Nikhil Vora, Founder and CEO of Sixth Sense, said, “Altigreen fits perfectly well into the Sixth Sense philosophy of backing first-generation founders, disrupting large categories ($7 billion+ of last-mile logistics opportunity) for the consumer of tomorrow (EVs emerging as the future of mobility). Further, we draw comfort with Altigreen’s primary focus on the 3W segment within the EV space – which fundamentally is less cluttered and under-penetrated, as well as benefits multiple stakeholders in the value chain (from Ecommerce players to consumers). This coupled with a strong product first approach and a credible team, Altigreen is well-positioned to emerge as one of the leading players in the 3W EV space. We are excited to partner with Amitabh, Shalendra, and the team.”

Founded in 2013, the Bangalore-based startup started off as a technology enabler for electric vehicles. It wanted to create the electric drivetrain for hybrid or fully electric vehicles.

It was in 2018 that Amitabh decided that Altigreen would develop electric vehicles. Now, the startup has close to 26 patents and sold close to 200 vehicles.

At present, it has a network across New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Chennai.

In the past, Altigreen has received investment from Ajay Sarupria, Jupiter Capital, Sterling Tools, Phi Capital and HiTech Gears among others.

“We are very excited to work with Amitabh Saran and Shalendra Gupta, pioneers who have invested several years in developing indigenous technology that is shaping India’s EV revolution. Altigreen’s vehicles are more practical, more economical, ecologically beneficial and truly Made in India. We believe that Altigreen has a big role to play in accelerating the adoption of EVs which is entering a non-linear growth phase in Indian markets”, says PR Srinivasan, Managing Partner, Xponentia Capital.

“The investment is part of our company’s strategic intent of collaborating with innovative companies in New Energy and New Mobility ecosystems,” said Reliance New Energy in the exchange filing.