This is how Regeny is catering to the GCC’s emerging EV landscape

Back in 2018, when Anish Racherla was travelling across the globe for different projects, Tesla vehicles on the road grabbed his attention. 

“I saw Tesla cars everywhere. It fascinated me how a car company from the US was trying to go global. Everywhere we went, hotels had Tesla chargers in the West and China at that point in time,” he recalls. 

He thought the future was EV, and rightly so. Globally, the electric vehicle (EV) market was valued at $163.01 billion in 2020, as per a report by Allied Market Research. It is projected to reach $823.75 billion by 2030, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.2% between 2021 and 2030.

Racherla saw this shift in the MENA region in the past few years. Digging deeper, he realised there was a push towards sustainability. And EVs play a vital role in this landscape. 

To tap into this emerging market, former fintech professional Racherla started Regeny—an EV charging solutions platform—in 2022 in Dubai.  Racherla realised while the EV trend is growing globally, the dynamics vary, and the Middle East is catching up. 

“We started with a vision to build a community of EV users and stakeholders on one platform, making the shift to sustainable electric mobility seamless,” he shares. 

The GCC’s EV market was valued at $2.36 billion in 2021, as per a report by Mordor Intelligence. It is expected to reach $6.7 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 19.03% between 2022 and 2027. 

Regeny provides a comprehensive range of AC and DC fast chargers connected with a smart charge point management platform and a mobile application. 

What does the platform offer?

Regeny offers a community platform with an extended EV charging network, both home and enterprise charging solutions.

“As part of our charging network, we have several EV chargers of different brands and companies deployed on the ground. There are also off-map charges that are not visible but are open for public use,” says Racherla. 

The founder declined to share the total number of chargers deployed as these numbers, according to him, change constantly. The larger idea is to aggregate all chargers onto one platform so users find Regeny’s chargers, as well as those of other players.

“Our idea is to bring all users and stakeholders together on one platform, and our hook is going to be electric vehicle charging,” says Racherla. For this, the team works on bringing in access, reliability, and seamlessness. 

“If you are an EV user, we make sure that you find working chargers. There are no route surprises, which means, once you get to the chargers, you will not find them to be broken or under maintenance, etc.,” he says. 

A major reason behind the aggregation is to solve for accessibility in the EV charging landscape.  

“There are a lot of hotels, apartments, offices, etc., who have deployed charges in their visitors’ parking, but there's no way to discover them unless you're staying there or visiting,” Racherla adds. 

Regeny’s chargers are compatible with some of the leading EV manufacturers, ranging from Tesla, Audi, BMW, and Renault, to Hyundai and more.

Currently, users can spot the chargers through its application—available both on Android and iOS. “We will shortly list all our charges on Google Maps too,” Racherla says. 

For home and enterprise solutions, the team takes care of aspects, ranging from providing the chargers to managing the related technology and operating system behind it. 

Revenue, growth and future plans

“For the home solutions, we make money on charging and installation. Throughout the charging network, we charge a subscription fee. On the B2B side, we have long-term arrangements with large developers, malls, etc.,” Racherla says explaining its revenue model. 

“At present, we are looking at around 20% to 28% gross profit margins,” he adds. Currently bootstrapped, the team did not disclose the amount they charge. 

As the Middle East continues to work towards reducing its carbon footprint, EV adoption is an area of focus. Amid this, building the required infrastructure is given considerable priority. 

Under UAE Vision 2021, the UAE government is significantly pushing for EV adoption. Nearly 20% of government agency cars have already been converted into EVs. The government aims to have 42,000 EVs on the ground within the next decade. 

Further, Saudi Arabia aims to have at least 30% of the cars in Riyadh to be powered by electricity within the next decade. 

In terms of the existing and developing charging networks, Racherla believes that Regeny competes with the likes of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). 

"We also work with DEWA and ADNOC as partners and not just competition. We are in the process of evaluation to be empaneled as a supplier/partner for chargers on their respective networks and are undergoing trials with DEWA," Racherla notes.

“With COP28, there's been a renewed effort on strengthening these networks by the government entities, the government-owned state-backed firms as such,” he adds. 

In January this year, the startup partnered with EvGateway, as part of which a total of 10,000 EV charging networks are expected to be deployed throughout the UAE by 2030.

“We are also looking at other areas of the EV value chain, which are close to what we are doing, and exploring if there are any opportunistic areas we can capitalise on through our platform,” he adds. 

At present, the startup’s core team consists of five individuals across engineering, business development, technology, and operations. Close to 20 people are actively freelancing with the team. 

Prior to starting Regeny, Racherla was part of the founding team at Finneva Holdings, an ecommerce business, leading its fintech strategy. Before that, he was the global head of strategy and programmes at Finablr, a London-based global payments firm.  

Anant Jain—Racherla’s former colleague from Finablr and Finneva Holdings and now the Co-founder of Regeny— will join the core team full-time by the end of this month. 

This year, the team is going to focus on its UAE operations.

(Cover image designed by Nihar Apte)

(The story was updated to add context about Regeny's competition.)