Meet EV Startups and their Founders/ Co-Founder that created a lot of buzz in 2021

As we enter the new year with new hope and visions, we bring you the top 10 electric vehicle companies and their founder/co-founders that created a lot of buzz in the year that was most challenging for not only the start-ups but for everyone. We hope these companies will keep creating headlines for all the good deeds they are doing.

  • Ola Electric

Established in 2017, Soft Bank backed Ola Electric dived into the EV segment with the launch of Ola S1 scooter. The startup also launched Ola Electric’s Hyperchargers which is capable of charging e-scooter batteries from 0 – 50% in just 18 minutes. Founder CEO of Ola Electric is Bhavish Aggarwal . The cab-aggregator-turned electric vehicle startup has confirmed that it will start developing electric motorcycles and cheaper electric scooters from next year.

  • Tork Motors

Ratan Tata backed Tork Motos showcased its first product in September 2016. The company is gearing up to launch Tork Motors T6X in the Indian market soon. Kapil Shelke is the founder and CEO of Tork Motors. He worked as CTO at Zongshen Racing Team

  • Ather Energy

Ather Energy is a Bengaluru-based startup was founded in 2013. IIT Madras graduates Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain are the founders of the Ather Energy. The startup launched electric scooters – the 340 and 450 – along with the AtherGrid, an electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Ather Energy has commissioned its second manufacturing facility in Hosur, which is expected to be ready by 2022. The company plans to manufacture 4,00,000 units per annum, while the current capacity is at 1,20,000 units. Ather, had earlier this year, set up its first plant in Hosur.

  • Blu Smart

Gensol Mobility launched India’s first all-electric shared smart mobility platform Blu Smart for efficient, affordable, intelligent, sustainable ride-sharing, car-sharing and scooter-sharing. Co-founded by Anmol Singh Jaggi, Dr Uma Kant, Punit K Goyal, Kiran Patil and Puneet Singh Jaggi in Oct 2018. The staup has a fleet of 512 BluSmart EV cabs and 301 EV Charging stations.  Recently Jio-bp partners with BluSmart to set up EV charging infrastructure in India

  • Okinawa

The Gurugram-based Indian electric two-wheeler company Okinawa was founded in 2015. It claims to be a 100% Indian electric two-wheeler company and has its manufacturing unit set up in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan. It is founded by Jeetender Sharma and Rupali Sharma. Okinawa is planning to launch 3 new high-speed electric scooters/bikes within 2 years

  • SmartE

A platform for booking electric autorickshaws for last mile transportation SmartE lets the users request for a nearby electric autorickshaw based on their locations. It envisions providing a safe, reliable source of transport offering an end-to end last mile connectivity. The idea of SmartE began taking shape in 2014, around the time when Delhi was labelled as the world’s most polluted city. Users can also share their rides with other passengers and split the cost. The company has strategic partnerships with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, Janalakshmi Bank, State bank of India, GEM, Government of Haryana, and others. Goldie Srivastava is the Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of SmartE. & before joining this company he has worked with companies like UTC Climate, United Technologies, Adobe Systems, IBM, Vans Information & others.

  • Magenta

Magenta is an integrated clean energy and electric mobility solutions provider founded in 2016 by Maxson Lewis and Darryl Dias, the duo have combined experience of over three decades in management, automotive and renewable industries. It created buzz in the industry in 2018 with the launch of country’s first solar powered electric vehicle charging stations. Seed funded by HPCL in 2018 & incubated by Shell in 2019, Magenta is also backed by the Microsoft Startup Program to further strengthen its advanced technology platform for Electric Mobility.In 2020, Magenta had raised pre-series funding from JAN (JITO Angel Network) and LetsVenture. In May 2021, Magenta announced that it had closed its Series A funding by renowned Indian-American philanthropist, billionaire, and serial entrepreneur, Dr. Kiran Patel.

  • BattRE

BattRE Electric Mobility Pvt Ltd, or simply known as BattRE is a technology driven startup founded in 2017 and headquartered in Jaipur has e-bicycles and e-scooters/ BattRE is now being incubated with Sangam Ventures (Niti Aayog), an investor specializing in clean technology investments. The founder of BattRE is former Airtel executive Nishchal Chaudhary. The company began its operations in Maharashtra, and Gujarat in June 2019 and currently has more than 50 dealers in six states. The company recently launched the BattRE GpSie electric scooter in India at ₹65,000.

  • Nexzu

Formerly Avan Motors, Nexzu rebranded in January 2020. is one of the fastest-growing electric vehicle manufacturers in India. Founded in 2015 is a Pune based startup with the vision of making EVs mainstream in India. Focused on customer centricity, Nexzu Mobility offers its customers with the best in class products, It’s range of products includes e-scooters and e- cycles. With a manufacturing plant at the automotive hub of Chakan, the company has over 100 dealer touch points, its own online store and a presence across multiple e-commerce portals. Founder of Nexzu Mobility are Vinod Mittal and Atulya Mittal.

  • Charzer

Kirana Charzer is all set to change the charging infrastructure in the country with a simple plan – turning neighbourhood kirana store, restaurant or even office into a charging station. Dheeraj Reddy, Sameer Ranjan Jaiswal, and Yugraj Shukla established Charzer in 2020. The founder developed smart, compact IoT-powered station called Kirana Charzer, as well as a mobile app to provide easy access to charging facilities. Bengaluru-based EV charging infrastructure startup, has partnered with ADDA, a comprehensive society management system, to build charging infrastructure in apartment complexes.

In two years, Charzer will install smart EV charging stations at 1,500 apartment complexes across India.