Taiwan-based scooter and motorcycle manufacturer Kymco has acquired a significant stake in the Gurugram-based electric vehicle (EV) startup Twenty Two Motors, marking its foray in the Indian electric mobility market.
Kymco will be investing around ₹480 crores ($65 million) in Twenty Two Motors. According to reports, Kymco is expected to acquire a stake of more than 25% in the EV startup.
The funds raised will be used for setting up a new plant, expanding product portfolio, and localisation of batteries in the next three years.
Twenty Two Motors was founded by Parveen Kharb and Vijay Chandrawat in 2016. The startup aims to make cutting-edge electric vehicle technology affordable by offering electric two-wheelers.
With the help of Kymco’s technology and Twenty Two Motor’s local experience, both the partners are looking to sell around 500,000 electric scooters over the next three years.
With the new partnership, Twenty Two Motors will be coupling its new smart electric scooters’ FLOW, with Kymco’s advanced Ionex technology battery. The first scooter from the partnership is likely to come up by mid-2019.
The battery can be full-charged in less than an hour and the scooter will have a fixed reserve battery on board. This enables riders to go for an extra 20 kilometres even if the main battery is drained out.
Kymco is further looking to strengthen India’s charging infrastructure, using its Ionex platform to create a comprehensive charging ecosystem.
Allen Ko, Chairman of Kymco, said, “We want to make electric a practical reality and that is our future. India is such a huge market and with the increased focus from the government, we can drive the change with the new electric two-wheelers.”
Both the partners are looking to open experience store across major Indian cities including New Delhi Gurgaon, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Pune and Bangalore.
Twenty Two Motors last raised $1.6 million in a funding round from Ishwari Singh and Farhaan Shabbir in April 2017.
Other players in the EV startups in India, competing with Twenty Two Motors include, Ather Energy, Ultraviolette Automotive, Strom Motors and Emflux Motors, among others.
In August 2018, Ultraviolette Automotive raised ₹6 crores in series A round from TVS.