bp Ventures, a UK-based VC has invested $9 million into ZingBus, leading its Series A funding round. The investment will work to scale operations and grow the existing team, addressing pressing safety and reliability challenges in India’s intercity transport network. Previously, the investor supported startups such as Advanced Ionics and Service4Charger.
Idea behind Zingbus
India has the second largest road network in the world, reaching around 6.4 million kilometres, and around 50 million people a day travel between its cities. Zingbus was founded to address some of the existing challenges of intercity mobility, including potentially unsafe boarding points and unreliability by enabling transport that is accessible and reliable.
Intercity bus ticket booking platform
Founded in 2019 by Zingbus are Ravi Kumar Verma, Mratunjay Beniwal, and Prashant Kumar, Zingbus builds a tech solutions platform for electric bus operators and their customers travelling between cities. The platform provides front and back-end digital infrastructure for bus operators, including pricing, fleet administration, and route optimisation services, together with a dedicated ticketing marketplace.
Zingbus’s EVs are designed to be comfortable, sustainable, and noiseless, with air-conditioned interiors and wide spacing. They also have no tailpipe emissions, which reduces their carbon footprint. Also, it helps bus operators address the challenges of running an electric bus, such as cost efficiency and scalability. The company has worked with small and medium-sized bus operators to serve more than two million users across 300 Indian cities.
Key partnerships
The Indian mobility startup has signed a commercial agreement with Jio-bp pulse, an electric mobility joint venture between Reliance and bp. This will utilise its EV charging network and convenience sites across the country for bus operators on the Zingbus platform. Jio-bp pulse operates India’s largest EV fleet charging hubs and public fast charge points in various cities and major highways. It has recently installed its 5,000th charge point.
Competition
ZingBus faces stiff competition with other companies operating in the intercity bus aggregation domain such as Yolobus, IntrCity of RailYatri, Abhibus, and FreshBus.
What’s next for Zingbus?
With massive investments in the tech-solution space for bus travel going up, intercity mobility is witnessing rapid growth in India. With the new capital, ZingBus is well-positioned to expand its services, cater to rising consumer demand, and compete in the broader mobility startup ecosystem. As the market continues to mature, the company aims to establish itself as a leading player in India’s intercity travel sector.
Zingbus CEO and co-founder, Prashant Kumar, said: “Electric buses in India are cheaper to run than diesel ones, and with the Indian Government targeting a 100% electric bus fleet by 2030, we saw an opportunity to not only make the transition from ICE to electric more streamlined and cost-efficient but to also make life easier and safer for people travelling between cities. We’ve created a best-in-class tech platform that addresses the major challenges of running an electric bus, empowering bus operators with the tech they need to transition. This approach makes the model highly scalable and could allow us to support over 3000 electric buses on Indian highways in the next 5-6 years. That’s what we see as being our superpower.”
Gareth Burns, vice president of bp Ventures, said: “Zingbus’ end-to-end tech platform looks to benefit both bus operators and customers, providing an affordable solution to intercity travel. Our investment and Jio-bp pulse’s commercial agreement could help bus operators in their transition to electric fleets whilst delivering a service that is reliable and lower cost. This investment demonstrates bp Ventures’ ambition to champion innovation in the energy sector, alongside working in support of bp’s broader strategy. We look forward to supporting Zingbus as they continue to grow.”
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