Pune-based EV Startup Tork Motors Raised Fresh $67K from Ola Founders
Co-founders of Indian cab hailing firm Ola, Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, have together invested fresh US$66,810 (~ ₹45 lakh) in Pune-based electric vehicle (EV) making startup Tork Motorcycles (Tork). Bhavish has invested nearly Rs 30 lakh while Bhati contributed about Rs 15 lakh, in lieu of shares.
This is Tork’s second funding from Ola co-founders as earlier in April 2016, the EV had raised angel funding of an undisclosed amount from a host of marquee investors including Ola founders Bhavish Agarwal, Ankit Bhati and a group of angels led by Harpreet Grover, the chief executive and co-founder of CoCubes.
According to Paper.vc, the Ola co-founders invested in Tork in January this year. Tork Motorcycles, has received ₹1.25 Cr from the Ola founders and Kapil Shelke, founder of Tork, stated Paper.vc report. Kapil has put in ₹80 Lakhs and the rest of balance of ₹45 lakh came from Bhavish and Ankit. Current amount included, the Ola founders have invested ₹ 3.2 Cr in the e-bike startup. The startup has raised a total of ₹4.8 Cr to date.
This investment from Ola promoters was closely followed by a deal worth Rs 30 crore with Bharat Forge for a 45% stake in Tork.
Ola founders’ investment in Tork is seen as an extension of its ambitious plans of putting a fleet of 10,000 electric vehicles (EVs) over the next 12 months and one million electric vehicles on its platform by 2021 to boost the electric vehicle ecosystem in the country.
Ola had launched a pilot project for electric vehicles in Nagpur, last year, which included electric cabs, electric auto rickshaws, electric buses, rooftop solar installations, charging stations, and battery swapping experiments.
Tork has unveiled India’s first all-electric motorcycle – T6X, which has been priced at Rs. 1,24,999, in September 2016.
Last May, Indian government released a report called Transformative Mobility Solutions for India, which carried recommendations of how the Indian subcontinent should electrify all its vehicles by the end of year 2032. Along with suggesting an all-electric fleet on Indian roads by 2032, the report also suggests decreasing the taxes and interest rates for loans on electric vehicles.