How ‘Welectric’ Is Simplifying Electric Two-Wheeler Ownership And Encouraging Businesses To Adopt EVs
We all know electric vehicles are the future. And with Government-backed schemes and incentives to promote electric mobility in the country, the Indian e-Mobility sector is expected to grow by leaps and bounds.
With the help from the government and entrepreneurs who are making a change in the EV space, India is on its way to become the number one hub for manufacturing electric buses, cars and two-wheelers.
But what’s slowing this progress is the existing issues like lack of financing options, lack of resale options or absence of a used E2W market. That is why there is a lower adoption rate of EVs in India. Today’s startup story is about Welectric, an Indian startup that is eliminating these issues and is on a mission to enable rapid and mass adoption of electric two-wheelers.
Startup Story: Welectric| Electric Two-Wheeler Ownership Simplified
Welectric Founder
This Bengaluru-based startup was founded by Vikas Jain and Tamilselvan Subramanian in 2019 to solve the problems related to electric vehicles like lack of dealership, maintenance infrastructure, lack of financing options, etc., and promote the adoption of electric vehicles.
How Welectric Started?
Vikas Jain has always been an avid electric two-wheelers user because of the hassle-free experience EVs provide.
Though being an avid electric two-wheelers user, he realised several problems related to the EV infrastructure.
Problems including lack of dealership, maintenance infrastructure, lack of financing options, lack of resale options or absence of a used E2W market were some of the major reasons behind lower adoption rates.
So, to solve the underlying problems hindering the growth of EVs, Vikas Jain and Tamilselvan Subramanian founded Welectric in 2019.
Talking about the startup, Vikas says,
“We purchase the E2Ws for our customers and take care of all compliance, including registration and insurance. We also take care of all after-sale services such as preventive and corrective maintenance at the customer’s doorstep. The customers have complete flexibility to buy the vehicle they are using, or upgrade to the latest model, renew or extend the lease or even just return the vehicle and take their security deposit back after the initial lease period. Clients, however, need to give us an initial lease rental commitment of around 24 months and a refundable security deposit.”
USP Of Welectric
Welectric is on a mission to enable rapid and mass adoption of electric two-wheelers. Offering customised and comprehensive multi-brand E2W lease rental solutions to last-mile delivery companies, Welectric operates on a lease rental business model.
Looking to position itself as a multi-brand one-stop-shop for all-electric two-wheeler requirements, the startup helps businesses understand their vehicle needs, including mileage, speed, and loading capacity among others, and helps them identify the best vehicles.
The startup then purchases the vehicles and takes care of all the compliances. These vehicles are then leased by the client businesses for at least 24 months.
Present Situation Of Welectric
The startup is partnering with Hero Electric, Okinawa, Greaves Cotton and Ampere for procuring the vehicles. Currently working with clients like Licious and Ninjacart, the startup said it is in discussions with other businesses with last-mile delivery operations.
Earlier this year, the startup raised an angel investment round led by Hemalatha Annamalai, Founder and former CEO of Ampere.
The funding round also saw participation from some angel investors, including Ashish Patil, Ramasubramanian Balasubramanian, Rambabu Pallavalli, Sanjay Sunku, and Vinay Trivedi.
Future Plans Of Welectric
Welectric plans to focus on the B2B lease rental market for the next two to three quarters. Then afterwards, the startup will also expand its offering to individual two-wheeler users.
Talking about the utilisation of raised funds, Vikas said,
“We will use these funds to build our team, invest in building our software technology, and scale up our B2B business.”