Turno, a commercial electric vehicle distribution and financing platform, has raised a $13.8 million series A funding in its bid to expand its operation in the country besides its plans to build a proprietary battery technology platform for EVs. The company claims to have captured 20 percent market share.
The funding round was led by B Capital and Quona Capital while existing investors Stellaris Venture Partners and Avaana Capital also participated. Apart from that, this round saw the participation of two new investors, Alteria Capital and InnoVen Capital.
“Today 80-85% of India’s automotive fuel consumption is driven by commercial vehicles with internal combustion engines. Yet, there is a strong desire to transition to a green economy and so, commercial EV adoption holds significant promise. Turno was founded with the mission to convert these “gasoline miles” into “electric miles”, having a significant positive impact on the environment” says Hemanth Aluru, co-founder and CEO, Turno.
The company said that it has identified a massive untapped opportunity to create a proprietary battery technology platform to repurpose EV batteries into large scale second-life energy storage systems.
“Our endeavor is to make the EV technology equitably available to everyone through business model innovations that can continually bring down the costs of ownership. We believe this is the only way to make India’s EV mission successful.” Sudhindra Reddy, co-founder & COO, Turno.
The company said tha it has forged multiple national level partnerships with leading 3W electric vehicle manufacturers, including Mahindra & Mahindra, Piaggio, Omega Seiki Mobility and Etrio, to sell their vehicles countrywide.
Turno recently announced key personnel appointments across battery technology, brand, growth and operations.