Vidyut Tech which simplifies EV vehicle ownership through unique financing model has raised $4 Mn in a mix of equity and debt in its seed funding round. The new capital will be infused to double credit, engineering and sales team talent pool in the next 12 months.
Kothi and Gaurav Srivastava, who founded Vidyut in 2021 mission is to make commercial EV ownership simple, affordable, and a risk-free proposition for customers through its unique ownership plans.
“The biggest consumer need to unlock commercial EV adoption is smart financing. While OEMs are pushing the frontiers of EV tech, the market has lagged in innovating on the financing front,” Vidyut cofounder Xitij Kothi said.
“At Vidyut, we are leveraging EV tech, with support from our OEM partners, to build a technology stack that fundamentally changes the ownership experience,” Kothi said.
Kothi expressed the high upfront cost of EVs, coupled with lower loan-to-value financing, as the reason for the slower adoption of EVs in the commercial vehicle segment. Besides, the uncertainty around battery life and its high replacement cost are a major anxiety for buyers, he added.
Presently, the buyers are also unable to determine the residual value of the vehicle, and a non-existent resale market increases this stress and the perception associated with the risk of owning EVs, the cofounder said.
Vidyut Financing Model Brings EV Ownership Cost by 40-50%
Vidyut offers two ownership plans — a hybrid financing model for vehicle loans with a battery subscription, which brings down the upfront EV cost by 40-50%, and a traditional term loan plan.
Using battery health data and its proprietary underwriting model, the EV financial startup extracts a high residual value for EVs, helping customers get an effective interest rate of as low as 7% while buying the vehicles. Though EV commercial vehicles are costlier than ICE vehicles, this rate is almost at par with the ROI offered by the PSU banks for conventional vehicles with ICE engines, the startup claims.
In a statement, Vidyut said that its differentiation lies in its one-of-a-kind battery subscription ownership plan powered by proprietary asset-underwriting algorithms. The startup already offers ownership solutions for Mahindra, Altigreen, Euler, and OSM vehicles.
Vidyut plans to tap more OEM Partners
With the fresh infusion of funds, the startup is looking at tapping more OEMs as partners and increasing its presence to more geographies.
“There is a huge demand and continued shift in the strategy of large enterprises across industries which are now moving their supply chains towards clean energy and welcoming technology solutions. Yet, to scale big in India, the power lies in unlocking the value from small fleet owners and consumers who will ultimately drive the adoption,” said Udaan’s Kumar.
Kumar said that the solutions offered by Vidyut address the nuances of the EV ecosystem and solve one of the biggest pain points in the sector using technology.
The Funding was co-led by Force Ventures and Veda VC, and also saw participation from many strategic angel investors in the clean energy space.
Udaan cofounder Sujeet Kumar, Delhivery cofounder and CEO Sahil Barua, CRED’s Kunal Shah, Swiggy’s Sriharsha Majety, and Lohum founder and CEO Rajat Verma were a few major participants in the round.
