Simple Energy raises $20 million in latest funding round; bags 1+ lakh bookings

Bengaluru-based electric two-wheeler start-up Simple Energy has raised over $20 million ( ₹165 crore) in its latest round of funding. The fresh funding raised in the ongoing bridge round will be utilised for ramping up production of the upcoming Simple One electric scooter. The manufacturer recently inaugurated its first facility in Tamil Nadu and is set to begin production soon.

Simple Energy also revealed that it has received over one lakh bookings for the One electric scooter and the fresh investment will help the company ramp up production and begin deliveries faster. The Bridge round saw a number of participants including Dr Arokiaswamy Velumani, Founder, of Thyrocare Technologies Limited, Ashwin Hinduja of Gokaldas Group, Sanjay and Sandeep Wadhawa, Owners - Nash Industries, Sripriya Kalyanasundaram, Chief Strategy and Evangelist to CEO’s office, Lambda Test, Purple Moon Ventures along with existing investors like Manish Bharti and Vasavi Green Tech.

Speaking about the fresh round of funding, Suhas Rajkumar, Founder & CEO - Simple Energy, said, “With the propagation of EVs catching up on a massive scale in India, we believe in being a key participant in this eco-system. We have received a phenomenal pre-booking response and to cater to the demand, we are raising funds in a timely manner. We are ever grateful to all the investors for placing their faith in our brand. The funds raised will be strategically used to aid the production ramp-up and for a quicker delivery commencement. I would like to thank our customers who have believed in our brand and have patiently waited for the deliveries. We have successfully de-bottlenecked product constraints and are confident that we will soon start deliveries of India’s finest and premium 2-Wheeler EV – the Simple ONE."

Deliveries of the Simple One are expected to begin in a few weeks

Dr Arokiaswamy Velumani, Founder - Thyrocare Technologies, said, “Simple Energy is one of the few startups which has all the ingredients to be a market leader: founders with diverse expertise; customer-first approach; benchmarking of the product by category; understanding of customer needs; and a clear vision of products to be introduced in the market over the next 36 months. I am convinced that Simple Energy will bring a paradigm shift in how the Indian consumer views technologically advanced EV two-wheelers and will be a world-class brand that people of Indian origin everywhere will be proud of."

The Simple One is a rival to the Ather 450X and the Ola S1 Pro. The e-scooter was first unveiled in 2021 and it has been a long wait for the offering to make it to production. The electric scooter packs an 8.5 kW (11.3 bhp) PMS motor with peak torque of 72 Nm. It gets a 4.8 kWh battery pack with a claimed range of 236 km. There's an extended-range variant that promises over 300 km on a single charge. The company launched the One at a starting price of ₹1.10 lakh (ex-showroom).

Simple Energy has promised that the electric offering is now entering series production at its new Shoolagiri facility, which has been built with an initial investment of ₹100 crore. Deliveries are expected to begin in the next few weeks.