We all are aware that prices of petrol/diesel are at an all-time high. In that case, people might want to shift towards electric vehicles. However, a major problem that persists, in this case, is that India doesn’t have the appropriate charging infrastructure through which these electric vehicles can be charged.
Hence, this Vadodara based startup, CHARGE+ ZONE, fulfils all of these requirements and ensures the availability of a charging zone for all kinds of electric vehicles.
About The Startup
The co-founders Kartikey Hariyani, Pavan Bakeri, Kinnari Hariyani and Ravindra Mohan invented CHARGE+ ZONE in 2018. Their vision is to build an electric network throughout India for electric vehicles so that they can be easily charged.
In an interview held by YourStory, Kartikey said, “His entrepreneurial journey started back in 2010 with TecSo Project Ltd, which focuses on energy and solar PV plants. Realising the opportunity in the electric vehicle segment, CHARGE+ZONE came into existence as a natural extension.”
He further said that at CHARGE+ZONE, they have a simple vision to build India’s largest electric vehicle charging station network. At present, they have built 210 charging points across seven cities where more than 2000 electric vehicles get charged every day.
How Do They Do This
The startup has built charging points using IOT technology and cloud services through which their customers can charge their vehicles anytime, anywhere. They are also planning to build unmanned charging zones that will provide value and quality charging to the customers and would be available 24×7.
Talking to YourStory, Kartikey explained, “These charging stations are different from gas stations or petrol pumps, where the norm is to have attendants to help users. An EV charging station, on the other hand, is very different, and is going to be unmanned.”
They have a mobile application as well, through which customers can find out the nearest charging points and battery swapping zones. In December 2019, they extended their services to large automobiles as well. Hence, now they charge more than 125 Ashok Leyland Electric Buses for intra-city public transportation.
Their Achievements So Far
In November 2020, the startup raised a funding of 3 million dollars from Mumbai Angels, Keiretsu Forum and Ramakrishnan Family Office. The company claims that it is using these funds to expand further and complete its target of building one million unmanned charging points in the country in the next ten years.
Also Read: CarDekho, A Tier-2 City Startup From Jaipur Making It Big In Automobile Sector
Talking about their investors, Kartikey said, “The investment by Venture Catalysts and Mumbai Angels, as well as other family offices, represents the biggest vote of confidence at this growth-stage of our journey. We shall leverage the capital infusion to scale our operations towards early 2021 deployment plans and to keep us motivated as we work towards building 1 Mn unmanned charging points in the next ten years in India.”
Kartikey said that they have a lot of competition. However, they wish to collaboratively build a successful nationwide electrical charging infrastructure.
Image Source: Google
Sources: Inc 42, CEO Insights, YourStory
Connect with the blogger: Palak Dogra
This post is tagged under: tier 2 startups, tier 3 startups, rural startups, startups from tier 2 cities, startups from rural India, small-town startups, small city startups, India, startups in India, Indian startups, new startups, best startups in India, top startups in India, startups in Bangalore, invest in a startup, fintech startups, funding for startups, startups in Delhi, edtech startups, unicorn startups in India, startups in Mumbai, how to invest in startups, top 10 startups in India
