The Indian automotive industry is the fifth largest in the world and is expected to become the third largest by 2030. Supplying such a huge domestic market with conventional, fuel-intensive forms of mobility is neither sustainable nor resource-efficient. As electrification of transport is key to achieving climate goals, electric vehicles (EV) represent a promising solution to meet demand in a sustainable way.
An early mover in the EV space, ChargeZone® has positioned itself among the few credible players and front-runner in the market and concluded successful partnerships with the main EV manufacturers and e-mobility operators in the country. ChargeZone® has more than 3.000 charging points across 1.500+ EV charging stations in operations or construction in 37 Indian cities (as of March 2023). The company commissioned India’s first ever EV charging hub for 50 electric buses in Ahmedabad, Gujarat in 2019 and India’s first solar-powered EV charging station in Patna in 2022. Since then, it provides charging services to reputed companies for their fleets of electric buses and electric cars. ChargeZone® aims to reach one million charging points by 2030. In addition, ChargeZone® will increasingly integrate solar and wind power generation for their charging stations wherever feasible.
“We see a large and growing market for electric vehicles, driven by the need for more sustainable transportation. With its strong management team comprised of industry and finance experts, ChargeZone is ideally positioned to capitalise on the opportunities in the Indian e-bus market. We look forward to working with ChargeZone® to advance the electrification of transportation in India and contribute to the country’s climate and environmental goals”, said Aurelia Marti, Investment Manager, Infrastructure at BlueOrchard.
The funding arranged by BlueOrchard will support the company’s growth and finance an immediate roll-out of 286 charging stations serving 1.130 e-buses, avoiding emissions from internal combustion engines of diesel and petrol vehicles of 5.351 tons p.a. Over the long-term, the project will contribute directly and indirectly to the creation of at least 500 jobs.
“As a part of our Series A1 raise of US$54m of equity and debt, we are excited to have BlueOrchard as part of our journey to build supercharging networks for EVs in India and other global markets. With a crucial momentum being built up for the four-wheeler segment, we have planned a major capex program to expand our network and enable e-mobility across the fleet and single-user EV segments”, said Kartikey Hariyani, Founder & CEO, ChargeZone®.
Archis Management Advisors LLP acted as lead financial advisor to ChargeZone®.
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About ChargeZone®
ChargeZone® is a leading tech-driven EV Charging Networks company specializing in high-speed charging networks for Electric Buses/Trucks and Electric cars across the enterprise and the retail network on both dedicated and opportunity-based charging using smart-grid networks. Based in India, with indigenous development of the technology of mobile-app and CMS with firmware/web-socket cloud-based computing for super-fast EV charging as well as battery swapping. ChargeZone® is on a mission to establish one million charging points across important markets of EVs in India for cars, buses and even trucks. To know more, please visit www.chargezone.com or email info@chargezone.com.
About BlueOrchard Finance Ltd
BlueOrchard is a leading global impact investment manager and member of the Schroders Group. As a pioneering impact investor, the firm is dedicated to generating lasting positive impact for communities and the environment, while aiming at providing attractive returns to investors. BlueOrchard was founded in 2001, by initiative of the UN, as the first commercial manager of microfinance debt investments worldwide. Today, the firm offers impact investment solutions across asset classes, connecting millions of entrepreneurs in emerging and frontier markets with investors with the aim to make impact investment solutions accessible to all and to advance the conscious use of capital. Being a professional investment manager and expert in innovative blended finance mandates, BlueOrchard has a sophisticated international investor base and is a trusted partner of leading global development finance institutions. To date, BlueOrchard has invested over USD 10bn across more than 105 countries. Over 260 million poor and vulnerable people in emerging and frontier markets received access to financial and related services with the support of BlueOrchard as of December 2022. For additional information, please visit: www.blueorchard.com.
For further information, please contact:
BlueOrchard
Tahmina Theis
tahmina.theis@blueorchard.com, +41 22 596 47 69
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