[Funding] EV Experience Platform Blive raises $1 mn capital in pre-series A round

EV Experience platform, Blive has announced the fundraise of $1 Mn as Pre-Series A round. The funding was a combination of debt and equity. Existing investors LetsVenture, Mumbai Angels, JITO and Credit Wise Capital led the funding round. The company follows an experiential approach of driving adoption of Electric Mobility through EV Tours and EV Stores.

In a statement, speaking about the investment, the company said that they aim to reduce hurdles for consumers to transition to Electric Mobility. “Whether it is with EV Tours where consumers are getting a first-hand experience of EVs or our EV Store. This year, we are looking at growing the EV tours to over 30+ locations. We also aim to add more Two-Wheeler EV brands and ownership models to the EV Store; through both online and offline channels.”

In a short span of time, Blive EV Tours have expanded to top 15 cities across 9 states in India. The startup has also completed over 10k eBike tours so far. The company had raised funds led by a strategic investment from DNA Networks in September 2019. The current capital shows strength in the company's idea from its investors, Blive believes. Samarth Kholkar and Sandeep Mukherjee founded the company in 2018.

Currently, the startup is the official EV tourism partner of Goa Tourism. It has also partnered with hospitality partners like – Club Mahindra, Taj Hotels, Grand Hyatt, Airbnb etc. In 2020, BLive launched EV marketplace. They offered top brands of E-Cycles and E-Scooters like Hero Electric, Ampere, Hero Lectro, Go Zero and Lightspeed.

From the investor

Shanti Mohan, Founder, LetsVenture, said, “With India’s potential to be the next EV market leader of the world, we want to ensure that we support startups like BLive who provide a unique way to users of experiencing and owning Two-Wheeler EVs. Boost in domestic travel and growth in EV category presents BLive a great opportunity to grow and expand to bigger markets.”

Currently, electric mobility is one of the fastest-growing category, which is only expected to rise further in the coming year. Factors like the skyrocketing fuel prices and strong government initiatives to push for the adoption of Electric Vehicles will bring a significant transformation in the industry.