Shri Basavaraj Bommai, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka flags off JBM ECO-LIFE Electric Buses

 Karnataka’s first ever rollout of Electric Buses for public transportation
25 electric buses flagged off from Vidhana Soudha, Bengaluru
JBM to supply 90 Electric Buses to BMTC for its first electric bus project

Bengaluru, 28^th December 2021: JBM ECO-LIFE 100% electric buses were flagged off today by Shri Basavaraj Bommai, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka today from Vidhana Soudha. Hon’ble Transport Minister of Karnataka Shri B. Sriramulu, Chairman of BMTC Shri. N.S. Nandeesha Reddy and Principal Secretary of Transport Shri. Rajendra Kataria were also present at the e-buses launch ceremony amongst other senior officials from JBM Auto Ltd.

 

The JBM ECO-LIFE electric buses will be running under the metro feeder services in the Smart City initiative. Earlier this year, JBM Auto had received an order of 90 non-AC electric buses for the city of Bengaluru. 25 buses have been flagged off today out of the first batch of 40 electric buses already delivered by the company to BMTC. The remaining 50 e-buses will be delivered in the coming months. This e-bus service marks the first ever rollout of electric bus in the state of Karnataka. These buses shall be operated from the Kengeri, Yeshwantpur and KR Puram bus depots.

 

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Nishant Arya, Vice Chairman, JBM Group said, "JBM aims to create a state-of-the-art e-mobility ecosystem across India. We are a step closer to our dream with the launch of electric buses in Bengaluru. Our electric buses are already plying in the states of Maharashtra, Andaman & Nicobar, Gujarat and Delhi-NCR. JBM Auto provides a complete e-mobility ecosystem right from electric vehicles, charging infra, power infra to maintenance and support, thereby, providing optimum value to our customers”,

 

The 9 mt non-AC buses have a seating capacity of 33 passengers and a driver. These buses have a floor height of 900mm making it very convenient for the public to board and deboard the bus. They are equipped with 6 Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (NMC) battery packs that make the buses compatible to cover a distance of 120 kms in a single charge with a maximum speed of 70 kmph. The e-buses have air suspensions in front and rear to provide a smooth riding experience to the passengers. These buses incorporate all modern features like Real Time Passenger Information System (PIS), Panic Buttons for emergency, Automatic Bus Vehicle Location System, CCTV cameras, Public address system, Stop request buttons to name a few.

Spinny raises USD 283 Mn in Series E round of funding by ADQ, Tiger Global, Avenir Growth and Arena Holdings

 Gurugram, Tuesday - 9th December 2021

Spinny, a used car retailing platform in India, announces the closure of a USD 283 Mn Series E funding round from new and existing investors. The round was led by Abu Dhabi based - ADQ, Tiger Global and Avenir Growth. In addition to these, the round saw participation from existing investors Feroz Dewan’s, Arena Holdings and Think Investments. The latest round includes a primary capital infusion of USD 250 Mn and a secondary sale of ~USD 33 Mn by select angels and a few seed stage investors. The additional funding takes the overall funds raised by Spinny till date to more than USD 530 Mn and with this round Spinny’s valuation stands at ∼ USD 1.8 Bn.

Over the last 12 months, Spinny has constantly added multiple industry-first initiatives such as Spinny360 - interactive inventory viewing, Assured Buyback program - tenure based flexible car ownership, online booking, and doorstep test drives & delivery. With SellRight by Spinny, the platform is bolstering the experience of selling a car in the country with the complete capability for the customer to sell a car from their home in a matter of minutes with complete trust and transparency. The newly raised capital will be deployed towards further stepping up the customer experience, strengthening technology and product capabilities and building teams across functions. 

Commenting on this development, Niraj Singh, Founder & CEO, Spinny said “We set afoot to build Spinny with a customer first approach - solving for lack of trust in car buying and selling experience, with a highly personalized and detail-oriented approach. Leveraging technology, our focus is to further strengthen our quality and experience control capabilities. We are delighted to have new partners on board our rocketship, in ADQ Investments, and are thankful to our existing investors Tiger Global, Avenir Growth, Arena Holdings, Accel Partners, Elevation Capital, General Catalyst, the Fundamentum Partnership, Blume Ventures and others for their belief in our vision and tremendous support in scaling the platform.”

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About Spinny: 

Founded in 2015, Spinny is a used car retailing platform that aims to bring about transparency and convenience in the car buying and selling process in India. Spinny operates across the entire value chain of pre-owned cars, embedding superior technology and processes to deliver a premium experience to customers. As a testimony of Spinny's commitment to transparency and quality, every car on the Spinny platform comes with a 200-point inspection checklist, 5-day no questions asked money-back guarantee, and 1-year after-sales warranty. Currently, Spinny has 23 car hubs that operate across 15 cities - Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Indore and Coimbatore. 

About the team:

Spinny is founded by Niraj Singh (IIT Delhi Alumni), Mohit Gupta (Ex-Director, Flipkart), and Ramanshu Mahaur (IIT Delhi Alumni, Ex-Adobe). Niraj has had 2 successful entrepreneurial exits before he started Spinny and he was also a seed/early-stage investor in start-ups like Tripoto, JustRide (Now Drivezy), Little Black Book, Rapido Bike Taxi, MyHQ, Fango (Now SellTM), ShaadiSaga. The core team consists of many ex-founders and IIT/IIM/INSEAD graduates with experience in Management Consulting, E-commerce, marketplaces, and supply chain industries.

Additionally, Spinny had acquired its rival Truebil late last year and now operates it (www.truebil.com) as an independent brand that focuses on providing affordable pre-owned vehicle options in lower-budget categories. 

Tummoc partners with Rapido to provide first and last mile connectivity

 

Bangalore, 3rd December 2021: Bengaluru-based intra-city commute solution provider Tummoc has announced its collaboration with India’s largest and fastest-growing bike taxi startup, Rapido, to provide the first and last mile connectivity from the companys’ multi-modal transit mobile application. Tummoc’s data-driven transit platform is now expanding the range of ride options on its app intending to offer its users efficient commute options for end-to-end connectivity in the cities it operates in. Tummoc’s collaboration with Rapido is thus in-sync with the company’s ultimate vision, which also resonates with Rapido’s goal of making last-mile connectivity affordable through its disruptive service model. 

Tummoc has established its operations in key metro cities of Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Kolkata, where users can access Tummoc’s mobile application to understand public transport routes and transport options between two points within a city at the click of a button. And choose the most optimum combination that saves on time and cost of travel. Tummoc’s “Plan My Trip” feature helps users discover multiple ways to reach their destination, including Rapido’s bike and auto network in the aforementioned cities along with other public and private transport options, to find the best route suiting their requirements.

 

Commenting on this recent collaboration, Hiranmay Mallick, Founder-Tummoc quipped, “Tummoc’s mission of ushering in an era of smart and cashless urban commuting has got a significant boost with this collaboration with Rapido while staying true to our goal of Integrating all MaaS (Mobility as a Service) providers to offer our customers a wide range of first and last-mile transport options. We believe that both companies share the common thread of transforming how India commutes and that has brought us together to pioneer a new transit ecosystem for the scores of daily commuters in our country. Our association will be applicable for all the cities Tummoc operates in and will allow our customers to access Rapido’s network of trained bike and auto riders to plan and embark on their trips within each city. We hope to leverage on our strengths, grow together and provide an even greater end-user experience in the times ahead.”

 

On its part, Rapido has been redefining the concept of intra-city travel by offering customers quick and affordable bike taxi services through its vast network of 1million+ bike ‘captains’ spread across 100+ Indian cities. With convenience features like doorstep pick-up with assured ride safety and economically priced rides even in rush hour or traffic situations. Rapido has amassed a customer base of more than 10million and will leverage its collaboration with Tummoc to expand further in the cities it operates in. Speaking on the growth prospects, Aravind Sanka, Founder-Rapido added, “We are happy to collaborate with Tummoc to provide its customers with one-touch access to our fleet of bike taxis that are redefining standards of comfort & convenience. As a brand and a service, it is our constant endeavor to redefine ourselves and we believe this partnership will help both companies to synergize efforts to facilitate an exemplary end-user experience through first and last-mile rides provided through the platform. It is heartening to see how both companies share a similar vision for door-step accessibility in India and are confident of transforming the urban commute space further through this collaboration.”

 

With personal transportation costs escalating on the back of rising fuel prices, Tummoc facilitates commuters in discovering the fastest route employing commonly available transport while Rapido is working on the ground to deliver a safe commuting experience at reasonable costs. Additionally, both companies are helping reduce the overall carbon footprint for each of their customers and are contributing to India’s goal of reducing its total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes before 2030.