EV financing startup Vidyut raises $10M in equity and debt

Commercial EV financing platform Vidyut said it has raised $10 million in a Series A equity and debt funding round.

The financing in Vidyut Tech was led by 3one4 Capital, with existing investors Saison Capital, Zephyr Peacock India, Force Ventures, venture debt fund Alteria Capital, and Udaan CEO Sujeet Kumar.

The startup, founded in 2021 by Gaurav Srivastava and Xitij Kothi, said it will use the fund to launch EV insurance, as well as expand into new geographies--40 cities, at present.

It also aims to increase its headcount across roles and job functions, including product, engineering, and sales operations, by double.

More importantly, the company will use the funds to expand into the lifecycle management side of the equation, where it's currently testing servicing and maintenance offerings, Vidyut's Co-founder Kothi told YourStory.

While Kothi did not comment on whether Vidyut would launch its own service centres or provide it as an add-on package in the loan and insurance bundle, he said the startup will work with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to explore different models.

"For a lot of commercial EV buyers, their vehicle is their lakshmi, and they want to take care of it. We want to create an ecosystem around these EVs, right from financing and insurance to servicing and then resale," Kothi told YourStory.

Vidyut also offers battery subscription plans where vehicle owners don't own the battery outright, but instead pay a nominal amount, per kilometre, as rental fees.

The startup has started piloting its EV resale operation, as well as its insurance offering. It will start testing its service and maintenance product in the next two to three months.

"After hitting an inflection point, customised financing and lifecycle management solutions will play a central role in large-scale EV adoption, requiring lenders to evaluate asset risk alongside borrower risk," said Dhairen Tohliani, vice president of Alteria Capital.

"Through its unique offerings, Vidyut Tech addresses this whitespace by passing on the favourable total cost of ownership (TCO) of an EV to users upfront," Tohliani added.