Deepika Padukone’s family office invests in electric mobility startup Blu Smart

Ahmedabad-based electric mobility startup Blu Smart Mobility has raised $3 million from angel investors including Mumbai-based KA Enterprises, Deepika Padukone’s family office, and the JITO (Jain International Trade Organisation) Angel Network. 

Financial services firm Centrum Capital’s private equity fund Kalpavriksh, Suman Kant Munjal-backed investment firm Survam Partners, Rajesh Agarwal, co-founder of consumer electronics company Micromax and Sanjiv Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Capital, also participated in the round. 

The electric mobility startup is planning to scale its fleet of electric vehicles (EVs) to over 500 cars by November 2019 across the cities of Mumbai and Delhi NCR, an official statement said.

The planned fleet expansion would make Blu Smart the largest B2C (business-to-consumer) ride-sharing company in India, the statement added. 

Blu Smart is also in talks to raise $25 million in its Series A round by 2020. Funds raised in the Series A round would be harnessed to scale operations across Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad, the statement said. 

The startup also plans to launch its electrically-powered urban mobility services in Singapore and Hong Kong by the latter half of 2020.

“Blu Smart is focused on superior mobility experience for its customers, cost savings, passenger safety and security. Our new innovative urban mobility offering gives customers personal freedom to travel whenever they want without the hassles of car ownership and stress of finding parking spots in densely populated urban areas,” said Punit K Goyal, co-founder, Blu Smart.

The startup is building an ecosystem of 15,000 electric cars and 2,500 EV chargers through its ride-sharing platform. 

Blu Smart was founded in 2019 by Anmol Singh Jaggi, founder of renewable energy consultancy firm Gensol Group, Puneet Singh Jaggi, co-founder at Gensol Group and Goyal, former co-founder at renewable energy solutions provider PLG Clean Energy.

The startup claims to be India’s first all-electric smart mobility sharing platform for cars and scooters. Users can hail EVs on Blu Smart’s platform by accessing its app on the Play Store and App Store. 

KA Enterprises has backed startups such as furniture rental platform Furlenco and beauty products marketplace Purplle. It also invested in packaged foods manufacturing startup Epigamia. 

Recent developments in the electric mobility space

Earlier this month, automobile companies Hyundai Motors and subsidiary Kia Motors had sought approval from the government to invest in Ola Electric Mobility, the EV unit of ride-sharing platform Ola.

In August, Gurugram-based Treasure Vase Ventures, which runs electric vehicles operator SmartE, appointed Palash Roy Chowdhury as chairman and managing director. A month earlier, the startup raised $100 million in its Series B round from Japanese conglomerate Mitsui & Co.

In July, Ola Electric Mobility raised $250 million from Cayman Islands-based SB Topaz, a subsidiary of SoftBank.