[Funding alert] IAN Fund invests Rs 15 Cr in micro-mobility startup Zypp
Gurugram-based Zypp will use the funds to scale by adding 5,000 e-scooters to its fleet. It also plans to to expand its geographical footprint across NCR along with five other Indian cities, and then to Southeast Asia and Europe.
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IAN Fund, the SEBI-registered Rs 375 crore fund, has invested Rs 15 crore in Zypp (earlier Mobycy), a fully-electric connected and shared two-wheeler mobility company. The Gurugram-based startup delivering services such as last-mile connectivity, delivery, and enterprise commute through its fleet of IoT-enabled e-scooters.
IAN Fund led the pre-Serie sA round with IAN members also participating.
Padmaja Ruparel, Founding Partner at IAN Fund , said,
“Zypp’s mission of bolstering the electric connected shared mobility space focused on last-mile connectivity in India [is] in line with the overarching vision of IAN Fund. It is to lead India to become a major sustainability-led economy by empowering innovation-focused startups operating in new-age sectors such as cleantech, electric mobility, agritech, healthtech, advanced technologies, etc.”
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Following the capital infusion, the company rebranded to Zypp, with the mission of leveraging its fleet of IoT-powered electric scooters to make the commute convenient, affordable, and eco-friendly. Users can access the services to fulfill their daily micro-mobility needs within a range of 5 km using the eponymous app, Zypp. The mobile app unlocks two-wheelers by scanning the QR code, and allows users to park e-scooters at various geo-fenced locations.
Strengthening last-mile mobility
Incorporated in August 2017, the company said it has been strengthening last-mile mobility in India, under the leadership of Akash Gupta, an MBA from IMT Ghaziabad; Shivraj Singh, an IIM-Calcutta graduate, and Rashi Agarwal, a prolific entrepreneur. The startup consists of a team of 50-plus employees.
“If there is one word that perfectly describes modern-age cities, it is busy,” said Akash Gupta, Co-founder and CEO, Zypp. “People are busy with their lives, working professionals are busy commuting, the roads are busy with traffic, and the air with pollution. Through Zypp, we aim to relieve the stress on professionals, their budget, roads, and the air – all at once, thereby unlocking freedom for millions.”
The Indian electric mobility landscape is primed for disruption with public and private players working in synergy to establish required infrastructure and empower service providers in this space.
The government is committed to investing $1.4 trillion in developing EV infrastructure in the next five years. On the back of these developments, market research estimates the Indian electric mobility domain to be valued at $5.2 billion.
Zypp claims to be is well equipped to capture the lion’s share of the high-value market.
Rashi Agarwal, Co-founder of Zypp, said, “We will leverage the capital to scale by strengthening the fleet with 5,000 e-scooters within the next few months. We are also looking to expand our geographical footprint across NCR along with five other Indian cities, and then to Southeast Asia and Europe in the coming years. The plan is to have 20,000 scooters on the road by the end of 2020.”
(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)
