Commercial EV Startup Turno Raises $3.1 Million At the current rate of growth, the company claims that it expects to be the largest seller of electric vehicles in the country by August 2022
By Teena Jose
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Turno, a commercial EV startup that has been operating in stealth mode, has raised $3.1 million in new equity financing. The funding round was led by Stellaris Venture Partners, along with Avaana Capital.
"At Turno, we envision the future of Indian transportation to be completely electric with zero dependence on fossil fuels. Today, commercial vehicles constitute about 80 to 85 per cent of the entire fuel consumption in the country and our mission is to replace all diesel miles in the commercial vehicles with electric miles. We are excited to have investors, who are amongst the few to understand the nuances of EV investments and share our deep passion for accelerating India's transition to green mobility," said Hemanth Aluru, co-founder and CEO, Turno.
With a team of 60 people, Turno has doubled its sales volumes every month since its inception. Over the next 1 to 2 months, the company plans to launch its operations in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat and NCR. Turno has already captured a 75 per cent market share in the retail cargo 3W segment in Bangalore and has forged partnerships with leading 3W electric OEMs like Mahindra, Piaggio, Omega Seiki Mobility, Etrio and more. At the current rate of growth, Turno expects to be the largest seller of electric vehicles in the country by August 2022, the company claimed in a statement.
"Electric vehicles will reshape the automotive, mobility and energy industries. They are no longer part of some distant future, with the transition to electric increasingly visible with each passing day. The team Turno have leveraged their strong understanding of the automotive market and the EV ecosystem to create a compelling offering for the end buyer. In a short period of time, Turno has captured significant market share and enabled many fleet owners to go electric. We are excited to partner with them, and are confident that Turno will catalyze the move to electric for many more people in the years to come," said Arpit Maheshwari, Stellaris Venture Partners.
Founded in April 2022, Turno's unique model enables the retail segment and SMEs, which constitutes 90 per cent of commercial vehicles in India, to switch to electric vehicles. As per company statement, Turno's customers come from a diverse use case mix including small FMCG distributors, vegetable and fruit sellers, manufacturing units, garment distributors, water can suppliers among others.
