Ola Electric buys Dutch firm Etergo; lines up two wheeler launch next year

Ola Electric Mobility, a subsidiary of ANI Technologies that runs ride hailing platform Ola, has acquired Amsterdam-based electric scooter manufacturer Etergo.

The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The Bengaluru-based company expects to launch its first electric two wheeler in India next year, according to a statement. The acquisition will bolster Ola Electric’s engineering and design capabilities, it added.

Etergo’s team will continue to be based out of Amsterdam. The firm, which was set up in 2014, sells AppScooter, an electric vehicle (EV) that uses swappable batteries to deliver a range of up to 240 km. With its handlebar controls, users can control their phone through bluetooth, answer calls, stream music and control navigation.

“The future of mobility is electric, and the post Covid-19 world presents an opportunity for us to accelerate the adoption of electric mobility globally. With electric, digitally connected capabilities, two wheelers will further emerge as the most preferred urban mobility paradigm around the world and empower every consumer,” Bhavish Aggarwal, founder and chairman of Ola Electric, said.

The company will create global engineering, design and manufacturing capabilities to build products in India, he said.

Additionally, Ola Electric is running several pilots to deploy EVs and charging solutions across cities, with a focus on two and three wheelers, the statement added.

Hived off as a separate entity by its parent company in April 2018, Ola Electric became a unicorn a little over a year after that. A unicorn refers to a privately-held internet startup with a valuation of $1 billion or more. 

Since January 2019, the company has raised nearly $300 million from investors such as venture capital firm Matrix Partners; alternative investments firm Tiger Global Management; Pawan Munjal Family Trust, which is owned by motorcycle maker HeroMoto Corp chairman and managing director Pawan Munjal; Japanese conglomerate SoftBank; Ratan Tata’s investment vehicle RNT Associates; former Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin’s family trust; and Seoul headquartered car manufacturers Kia Motors and Hyundai Motor Company.  

The company currently deploys charging and battery-swapping networks for commercial electric vehicles. It looks to expand the service for two and three wheelers as well, the firm said.

The firm is also in talks with power distribution companies in the country to develop an EV ecosystem by setting up battery swapping and charging stations in New Delhi. It had earlier inducted automobile industry veterans BVR Subbu and Jaime Ardila to its board.