EMotorad is investing $3.5 million in expanding its E-cycles manufacturing capacity in India. Kunal Gupta, CEO & Co-Founder, EMotorad, told Mobility Outlook that the start-up will spend close to $2 million in acquiring land and an additional $1.5 million in setting up manufacturing lines and acquiring the necessary equipment.
“The capacity expansion phase will start with in-house battery manufacturing,” Gupta said.
To be invested over 18 months, the funds will help the company achieve the capability to manufacture 400,000 E-cycles per year from its current 90,000 units. The start-up claims that it is sourcing approximately 70% of the components locally, and the expansion phase will help it achieve better localisation figures.
IoT Features On Focus
Making E-cycles smarter using the internet of things (IoT) is also a major focus point for the company during this expansion phase. While its E-cycles come equipped with digital consoles at the moment, the start-up has aimed to make these more connected by allowing the users to interact with the same.
“We are working with India-based developers for IoT hardware devices,” he said. Gupta further explained that the software part will be taken care of by EMotorad’s team.
As a part of the IoT features, the company's premium range of E-cycles will sport Bluetooth connectivity, while the rest of the line-up will come featuring GPS capabilities. The start-up is expanding its team of engineers to augment two-way IoT connectivity.
Interestingly, the IoT features bundle, once launched, will be offered to end-users as a monthly package, for which the company is yet to decide on the prices.
Intending to encourage conventional cycle buyers to switch to e-cycles, it is working on launching an economical range of the same. The founders of the start-up feel that upgrading from an INR 20,000 normal cycle to an economical E-cycle would be a big encouragement to adopt EVs for the cycling community in the country.
“I feel moving from a normal cycle to an E-cycle is like a feature phone to smartphone upgrade. It is natural and waiting to happen,” Gupta said.
Majority Revenue From International Market
Having sold close to 44,000 E-cycles, the start-up noted that the international markets (the United States & Europe) contribute more to its revenues than the Indian markets. Notably, the average ticket price of an E-cycle sold in international markets is much more than in the Indian market.
'We did INR 70 crore revenue last year, and our order books suggest revenues of over INR 120 crore this fiscal,' Gupta said.
On the B2B side, the company is working on developing E-cycles for the last-mile delivery vertical, as it is already working with Reliance, Zepto, and more companies for in-campus mobility solutions. Also, EMotorad is manufacturing E-cycles for six international brands across the United States and Europe.
Owned 90% by the four co-founders, the company raised INR 24 crore in pre-series A funding round in October 2022, led by Green Frontier Capital (GFC), LetsVenture, and Ivy Growth associates.
Allied Market Research has forecast that the global e-cycle market will grow from $49.7 billion in 2022 to $80.6 billion in 2027.
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