Zypp Electric raises about $7 million in Series-A funding round

Hyperlocal and EV-based last-mile delivery start-up Zypp Electric said on Tuesday it has raised around USD 7 million (about ₹52 crore) in a Series-A funding round amid its plans to expand its fleet to 10,000 vehicles across 25 cities in the next 12 months.

The funding round was co-led by 9Unicorns and Anthill Ventures, which saw participation from marquee family offices and early-stage funds, the platform said in a statement.

These investors include Nanavati Family Office, We Founder Circle, Silicon Valley-based Riso Capital Fund, and Dholakia Ventures along with existing investors Venture Catalysts and IAN Fund.

Few angel investors such as Tarun Saraf of Warehouse Now, Rahul Khera of AWL logistics; Arjun Seth and Mark Joseph (both EV enthusiasts), also invested in the latest round, according to Zypp.

With the fresh funding in the kitty, Zypp has raised a total of USD 12.5 million so far, it added.

Zypp will use fresh funds in rapidly scaling up the business over the next 12 months in building an asset-light EV business with simple charging solutions and focusing on technology to utilise the fleet capacity, its co-founder and CEO Akash Gupta said.

Co-founded by Gupta and Rashi Agarwal in 2017, the platform provides electric scooters on rent to its clients and aims to disrupt and transform the future of the last-mile delivery with the right EVs, battery swapping infrastructure, internet of things, and AI/ML platform, according to the statement.

It works with about 200-odd business-to-business grocery and other hyperlocal delivery companies with over 2,000 electric vehicles (EVs) across cities such as Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune.

The electric logistics vision is a USD 123-billion market in India with multiple unicorns in this space, he said adding that the company is "thankful" to all its incoming investors who have believed in it and its growth vision.

"We at Zypp wish to be the first and the largest when it comes to electrifying logistics.

"With the largest customers in our belt, with the best team on board and with the largest EV logistics fleet in the country, we aim to make every delivery pollution-free for our customers and also creating more savings for the delivery executives," Gupta said.

He added that Zypp will continue to expand from 10 cities to 25 cities and grow significantly its EV fleet in the next few years. "I'd still say that we're just getting started and still just scratching the surface of what the future entails in the EV logistics space which we're super excited and committed to solving."

The company said it plans to expand to 10,000 vehicles across 25 cities over the next 12 months.

The company has tied up with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), such as Hero Electric, Etrio and Piaggio, to procure the vehicles, said the statement.

Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, founder of 9Unicorns and Venture Catalysts, said: "The EV market in India is slated to be a USD 206-billion market by 2030, and the two-wheeler especially has a massive potential, with a 100 per cent FDI and different schemes rolled out by the central government to make two-wheeler EVs affordable and increase the production."

This is going to give a major push to expand the industry and also increase sales, he said adding that "hence, we are proactively looking at the EV space at present and are optimistic about Zypp's potential to be a unicorn in this space."