Ride-hailing company Uber on Wednesday said it has led a $20 million (around Rs 164 crore) funding round in Everest Fleet, which provides fleet management services to taxi aggregators.
The round also saw investments from Patni Family Office, Incred, Ashish Kacholia, Spark AIF, Grip Invest and others.
Mumbai-based Everest Fleet plans to use the capital to expand its operations, growing the supply pool for the ridesharing industry, the company said in a statement.
The funding comes less than a month after Uber increased its commitment to sustainability. It said it will add 25,000 electric cars on its platform by partnering with fleet providers like Lithium, Everest and Moove.
“This funding round will accelerate our transition from being a CNG-dominated fleet to one with CNG and electric vehicles in the next 5 years,” said Siddharth Ladsariya, co-founder, Everest Fleet.
The startup, founded in 2016, owns and supplies a fleet of over 10000 cars , which run on CNG and electric vehicles. The company’s fleet runs in seven cities- Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, and Bangalore.
Everest Fleet is doubling down on the electric vehicle segment to cater to the growing demand as the government, investors and corporates take their climate related goals more seriously.
“By 2026, we aim to have 10,000 electric vehicles as part of our overall fleet,” Ladsariya said.
“Everest has grown its fleet at an impressive pace and has set new industry benchmarks in asset utilization,” said Prabhjeet Singh, President, Uber India and South Asia. Uber’s drivers depend on fleet management firms for vehicles. The company also launched its Uber Green programme stepping up its push for EVs in the country.
