- The company plans to offer a complete used battery solution and scale its electric vehicle distribution platform across the country
- Proprietary battery technology to repurpose EV batteries is the best bet to lower EV ownership costs and make them more accessible: Turno
One of the leading Indian platforms for commercial electric vehicle (EV) distribution and financing services, Turno recently announced that it secured $13.8 million (~Rs 112 crores) in Series A funding. The company, which claims to be the only platform in India which delivers a complete total cost of ownership solution to commercial EV buyers, aims to build proprietary battery technology to address issues around end-of-life battery value. It plans to utilize the funds to nourish this technology and expand its services across India.
The company believes that there’s a massive untapped opportunity to create a proprietary battery technology platform to repurpose EV batteries into large-scale second-life energy storage systems.
Co-Founder & CEO of Turno, Hemanth Aluru remarked: “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.”
While the funding round was co-led by global venture capital firms B Capital and Quona Capital, existing investors including Stellaris Venture Partners and Avaana Capital and new investors Alteria Capital and InnoVen Capital also participated.
As the concerns about the end-of-life value of EV batteries and e-waste have grown with deeper EV penetration, the company explained that customers purchasing EVs through Turno receive a Vehicle Lifecycle Management app, which incentivizes users’ driving behaviour to prolong battery life. The app offers a real-time dashboard for consumers to know their guaranteed buyback price for their vehicle’s end-of-life. The company promises an average 25-30% higher buyback than the market.
“Our endeavour 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,” said Sudhindra Reddy, co-founder & COO of the company.
“Commercial EV sales are heavily dependent on the availability of attractive financing options and today the Indian market is plagued by a lack of truly customer-centric options. Turno has identified a key missing element in the ecosystem that solves the problem of financing as well as distribution and servicing. As a technology-enabled omnichannel platform, especially at a time when EV sales are inflecting and climate-tech enabling solutions are fast evolving, we are excited to partner with Hemanth and Sudhindra in their vision to build Turno and transform the landscape of India’s EV market,” opined Karan Mohla, General Partner, B Capital and head of early stage investments in India & SEA.
Varun Malhotra, Partner at Quona commented: “We’ve been very impressed with Turno’s progress to date in making commercial EVs more readily available across India, and with their intentional work in the lifecycle management of those EVs and their batteries.”
Just-a-year-old Turno claims to be a one-stop solution to improve the accessibility and affordability of commercial EVs in India. Founded by Hemanth Aluru and Sudhindra Reddy (ex-Zoomcar CXOs) in January 2022, Turno is currently operational in five states— i.e. Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Delhi NCR, and Maharashtra. The company boasts of having captured around 20% market share and has partnered with many 3W EV makers, including Mahindra & Mahindra, Piaggio, Omega Seiki Mobility and Etrio, to sell their vehicles countrywide.
