Oil and gas giant bp and an investment fund managed by Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure have said today that they have committed a total of $22 million equity investment in an e-mobility company, Magenta Mobility, to support the electrification of e-commerce delivery and logistics.
Magenta Mobility is currently providing more than 750 three-wheel electric vehicles (EVs) across seven cities providing electrified last-mile delivery logistics. The company operates 35 charging and parking hubs in these cities. The company is working on an eco-system approach to provide solutions to the customers, driver-partners, OEMs and financiers.
With more than 100 million online shoppers and the government’s target of the electrification of e-commerce delivery and logistics by 2030, India is a key market for bp’s global electrification business, bp pulse. bp and Magenta Mobility will also collaborate on electric fleet management software, bp said in a statement.
Jio-bp, which is part of bp’s joint venture with Reliance, will be the exclusive EV charging partner for Magenta Mobility’s fleet.
Magenta Mobility plans to expand its fleet to 4,000 three and four-wheel EVs across the country over the next year. The capital will support Magenta Mobility’s market expansion into eight additional cities across India in the next two years beyond strengthening its presence in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Hyderabad, and Mumbai.
Sashi Mukundan, President, bp India and senior vice president, bp, said on this collaboration, “Decarbonising the last mile is increasingly important in India as the e-commerce market is expected to grow fourfold by 2030, which will require the deployment of huge numbers of new vehicles this decade.”
“With the Indian Government setting an ambitious 2030 target for the complete transition to EVs for e-commerce, delivery, and transport logistics service providers, Magenta Mobility, through its operations, will help decarbonise Indian cities,” he added.
Shyamsundar Gurumoorthy, Managing Director and Co-Head of Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure said, “We are very excited to work with dynamic co-founders and a management team that is at the heart of building the Indian commercial EV fleet eco-system.”
“There are strong tailwinds supporting EV adoption by large customers in their supply chain both for economic and sustainability reasons. We believe that Magenta Mobility will play a leadership role in scaling this industry, consolidate its market-leading position and support growth of sustainable logistics,” noted Gurumoorthy.
Maxson Lewis, Founder and Managing Director of Magenta Mobility, added, “This investment from bp ventures and Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure is a significant milestone for the Company as we look to build on our strong foundations in the EV space over the last 4 years. This investment and backing will catapult us in scaling our tech-led Electric Mobility platform across the country.”
He said that they understand the pain points, limitations for EV adoption in commercial fleet operations and have developed technology/software solutions to address these issues.
“We’re excited about our relationship with global marquee investors like bp and Morgan Stanley as we continue to electrify and decarbonise logistics in India,” he said.
