EV rental startup eBikeGo acquires Kustard Tech for $2M

Two-wheeler rental platform for electric vehicles (EVs) eBikeGo on Wednesday said it acquired Kustard Technologies — a UI/UX design studio and app development company — for $2 million.

According to a press statement, Kustard Technologies' acquisition will help eBikeGo build fleet management systems to aid in remote diagnostics of EVs to achieve preventative maintenance such as monitoring vehicle health, motor, battery, controller, etc.

Kustard Technologies has shown continuous growth throughout the three years after its inception, the statement noted.

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Besides the acquisition, eBikeGo has also expanded its team by onboarding 20 skilled developers from the EV tech industry to contribute to the product, design, innovation, and UI and UX.

With the help of the newly acquired Kustard Technologies team, eBikeGo is working towards developing an IoT system, which will strengthen EBG Matics mobility devices, resulting in smarter and efficient fleets.

Speaking on the acquisition, Irfan Khan, Founder and CEO, eBikeGo, said,

“We are extremely happy to acquire one of the burgeoning tech firms — Kustard Technologies — to help push the EV industry to the next level with cutting-edge technology.”

According to Irfan, every year, around 25 million petrol two-wheelers are sold in India with EVs accounting for just 0.6 percent of the overall sales.

“One of the major reasons for this is that most electric two-wheeler vehicles today are not connected to IoT (Internet of Things), making the user devoid of a complete, dependable digital experience. eBikeGo's vision with this purchase is to transform electric vehicles into smart connected vehicles,” he said.

Launched in 2017, eBikeGo is present in seven Indian cities. It aims to bring on the road a fleet of 200,000 bikes in about 100 cities across India.

According to Javed Khatri, Founder and CEO, Kustard Technologies, the startup's merger with eBikeGo allows it to create a wide-scale impact, especially to help fight climate change.