BLive, the Goa-based electric vehicle (EV) platform, has raised $1 million as part of follow-on capital of Pre-Series A round. The funding was a combination of debt and equity and was led by LetsVenture, Mumbai Angels, JITO, and Credit Wise Capital. The company had raised funds, led by DNA Networks, in September 2019.
Founded in 2018 by Samarth Kholkar and Sandeep Mukherjee, BLive offers experiential, guided tours on electric bikes, aimed at promoting sustainable tourism in India. BLive is the official EV partner of Goa Tourism and has also partnered with hospitality firms such as Club Mahindra, Taj Hotels, Grand Hyatt, and Airbnb.
“At Blive, we want to reduce all 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, where we seamlessly guide consumers through choice, expertise and convenience of ownership. This year, we are looking at growing the EV tours to over 30+ locations and adding more Two-Wheeler EV brands and ownership models to the EV Store through both online and offline channels,” said Samarth Kholkar & Sandeep Mukherjee, co-founders, BLive.
Kholkar said in a short span of time, Blive EV Tours has expanded to top 15 cities across nine states in India and has completed over 10,000 eBike tours so far. Driven by an increase in domestic tourism post pandemic, BLive has seen three times growth in its eBike Tours.
In 2020, BLive launched India’s first online EV marketplace offering brands of e-cycles and e-scooters. It recently started an exchange and upgrade programme, aimed at promoting the adoption of electric vehicles.
Owners of petrol-driven two-wheelers can exchange their existing vehicles and upgrade to a new electric vehicle. The EV store has successfully delivered to customers in over 25 Cities in less than three months of online store launch.
“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 completely 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,” said Shanti Mohan, founder, LetsVenture.
Electric mobility has seen rapid surge in adoption with prospects bright going ahead.
