All-electric intercity bus startup FreshBus closed $10.5 million (about Rs 87.5 crore) in Series A funding round. The founding secured the support of Maniv, an international early-stage venture capital fund with a focus on transportation, with further investment from Shell Ventures, Alteria Capital, and existing investor Riverwalk Holdings. This significant investment would take Fresh Bus growth and expansion to another higher level.
PC: EV Mechanica
Founded by Sudhakar Reddy Chirra and based out of Bengaluru, the company will use the newly infused capital to expand its operations on the ground with the addition of 15 new routes and 150 more electric buses in its fleet. The money will also be directed at improving the technological capabilities of the team. This strategic expansion is a part of Fresh Bus’s broader vision of scaling an electric bus fleet to 1,000 units across India in the next four years.
Fresh Bus currently has ticketing, real-time bus tracking, and a loyalty program all under one roof, merely because it is an end-to-end inter-city travel solution. It has already moved more than 400,000 passengers, an indicator of its increasing traction. Taking note of its innovative ways and sustainable business model, industry leaders like Kunal Shah of CRED, Sudarshan Venu of TVS Motors, and Fresh Bus CEO Deepak Garg of Rivigo, have extended support to Fresh Bus.
The journey of the company started with Abhibus, an online bus aggregator bought by ixigo in August 2021. With this acquisition, Fresh Bus acquired the best platform on which it could build, develop, and start serving customers. Fresh Bus has been able to tap into the resources and experience provided by ixigo to build on its offerings and further engage with more people.
Despite being at the pre-revenue stage, Fresh Bus showed quite some potential. As highlighted by TheKredible, the company lost as much as Rs. 2.1 crore in the fiscal year 2023. But with this new funding and a bundle of strategic plans, Fresh Bus is going towards massive growth by creating a good stronghold in the electric bus sector.
However, Fresh Bus has competitors such as IntrCity SmartBus, ZingBus, Yolobus, and gogoBus. Still, the company’s focus on sustainability and technology comes in good stead amid a competitive travel space.
To sum it up, Fresh Bus manages to successfully close its Series A funding, which might be taken as a milestone in itself. The Fresh Bus, with a rather potent backing of front-line investors and clearly looking at tomorrow, is poised to venture into the electric bus market in India methodically. Helping it move toward Sustainable Transportation in the country, with dreams of fleet expansion and more enriched services, the corporation is coming up to play a very important role at the helm of shaping the future for intercity travel.
