Indian startup Zypp Electric intends to utilize new funding from Japanese oil and energy giant ENEOS to expand its EV rental service into Southeast Asia early next year.
The company aims to be present in 15 markets over the next two years. Among these, Zypp Electric plans to launch a pilot in at least one Southeast Asian market early next year, according to co-founder and CEO Akash Gupta. The recent funding, totaling $15 million and led by ENEOS, is part of Zypp Electric’s Series C round, which Gupta expects to be between $35 million to $40 million and will be concluded in six to eight weeks.
Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines are potential markets for Zypp Electric. All of these countries have a strong two-wheeler culture and handle numerous deliveries, Gupta stated, adding that Indonesia will be the first market to kick off.
“There are various ways we are contemplating and discussing that [Southeast Asia launch plan] with a few players. We’ll outline that in the next two to three quarters,” Gupta said.
He also noted that the startup is in preliminary talks to venture into the Middle East as part of its global expansion. However, specific details regarding the Middle Eastern launch were not revealed.
The Gurugram-based startup, currently operating in major Indian cities like Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Hyderabad, offers an EV-as-a-service platform catering to e-commerce companies and gig workers. The platform includes an app and software that provides data and analytics for fleet and delivery management along with a fleet of electric two-wheelers. Gig workers, who can rent the e-bikes via daily, weekly, or monthly subscriptions, account for about 28% of Zypp’s revenue. The rest of its business serves courier, e-commerce, food and grocery delivery, and ride-sharing firms including Amazon, BigBasket, DHL, Uber, Swiggy, Zepto, and Zomato. The startup’s platform is used for 5 million deliveries each month.
Zypp Electric has been striving to expand its business both geographically and in terms of volume. Previously, the company planned to scale its fleet to 200,000 electric two-wheelers and enter 30 Indian cities by the end of 2025. However, Gupta mentioned that the startup has chosen to deepen its presence in existing markets rather than launching in new cities with minimal presence.
The startup has also begun offering electric three-wheelers in Delhi and Bengaluru, with plans to extend this service to Mumbai shortly. The three-wheeler fleet already contributes to 10% of the startup’s total revenue, according to Gupta.
Currently, Zypp has approximately 15,000 electric two-wheelers in Delhi, 5,000 in Bengaluru, 1,000 in Mumbai, and 500 in Hyderabad.
“The idea is to go deeper in these markets and, simultaneously, launch a new market every quarter,” Gupta said. The company intends to grow its fleet of 22,000 electric two-wheelers to 50,000 over the next year and aims to expand to a fleet of 200,000 in the next two and a half years, according to Gupta.
In February last year, Zypp Electric raised $25 million in a Series B round led by Taiwan’s battery-swapping company Gogoro. Other notable backers include Goodyear Ventures, Google for Startups, and Shell E4.
Gupta stated that Zypp Electric is already operationally profitable and is on track to achieve EBITA (earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization) positive status in six to eight months and profit after taxes in 12 to 14 months.
