Some of the most prominent names in the startup ecosystem participated in the round: Sujeet Kumar, cofounder of Udaan; Sahil Barua, cofounder of Delhivery; Kunal Shah, cofounder of Cred; Sriharsha Majety, cofounder of Swiggy; and Rajat Verma cofounder of Lohum.
Following the funding, the startup aims to partner with more EV makers and expand to more geographies. It will also double the headcount of its credit, engineering, and sales teams.
Founded in 2021, Vidyut Tech primarily caters to the commercial vehicle fleet owners by providing them with EV financing and ownership plans that takes away the risk of owning a battery. The startup has already partnered with EV makers such as Mahindra, Altigreen, Euler Motors and OSM vehicles to provide what it claims is a “one-of-a-kind vehicle ownership solution to commercial vehicle owners”.
Commercial vehicle owners can buy vehicles without owning the battery, thereby bringing down the upfront cost of buying an EV compared to diesel-powered vehicles.
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The down payment requirements for EVs are 2.5-3 times more expensive than in the case of diesel vehicles, the company claims. The ownership of the battery and the associated liabilities will lie with Vidyut Tech.
The company said it has exclusive access to vehicle and battery testing data from EV makers through which it has been able to build its proprietary underwriting model.
The startup is able to solve for the uncertainty around battery life and the high replacement cost of batteries, which is 40-50% of the vehicle value, which is making commercial vehicle owners hesitant to buy batteries.
After three to five years of using the battery in an EV, its life degrades and the battery usually goes straight to recycling where different elements like lithium, nickel and magnesium are extracted separately for reusing.
Vidyut Tech claims it will be able to get a residual value for these by selling the old batteries for different use cases like energy storage, and provide a new battery to the vehicle owners free of cost. Vidyut Tech has partnered with NBFC and provides an effective interest rate of as low as 7% to its customers.
“The biggest consumer need to unlock commercial EV adoption is smart financing,” said Xitij Kothi, cofounder of Vidyut Tech. “While OEMs are pushing the frontiers of EV tech, the market has lagged in innovating on the financing front. The lifecycle and the ownership journey of an electric ride are very different from that of an ICE vehicle. The market needs financing solutions tailored for EVs. At Vidyut, we are leveraging EV tech, with support from our OEM partners, to build a technology stack that fundamentally changes the ownership experience.”
Kothi has worked across multiple unicorns, including Swiggy, Rivigo, and Flipkart. The other cofounder Gaurav Srivastava has worked with EV and shared mobility startup Bounce and Boston Consulting Group, working in the automotive sector.
“There is a huge demand and continued shift in the strategy of large enterprises across industries which are now moving their supply chains towards clean energy and welcoming technology solutions,” said Udaan’s Kumar. “Yet, to scale big in India, the power lies in unlocking the value from small fleet owners and consumers who will ultimately drive the adoption.”
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