INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A group of investors are considering a plan to inject another $30 million into BluSmart in a bid to revive the Indian cab-hailing startup,
which abruptly halted operations last month, A Technology NewsRoom has learned
Ventures and Switzerland-based ResponsAbility, started discussing the resolution last week
BP Ventures and ResponsAbility declined to comment when reached out on Monday.While Jaggi has not signed the resignation from BluSmart,
sources told A Technology NewsRoom he has verbally agreed to resign from its board, subject to assurance he will not face any future legal
Goyal, did not respond to messages sent earlier this week.BluSmart halted operations last month after a probe was launched into Gensol
Engineering, its primary EV lessor and the company that shares Jaggi as its co-founder
The move affected riders looking for EVs, its investors, and its 600 employees, who did not receive their salaries at least until March.The
Gurugram-based startup had around 2.5 billion Indian rupees (~$30 million) in pending dues, which include 500 to 600 million Indian rupees
suspension of its service
This could affect the health of batteries and other components on the vehicles if the startup does not restart its service soon
Delhi to protest the move
Some of those out-of-work drivers may see some relief as Delhi-based EV cab-hailing service Evera Cabs recently announced the addition of
500 cabs leased to it by BluSmart lenders
The startup is also looking to add 1,000 EV cabs currently associated with BluSmart and some of its drivers.Existing BluSmart investors do
not want the startup to lose its branding by letting other cab-hailing companies, including Evera and even Uber, use its fleet on their
services.Sources told A Technology NewsRoom the investors are keen to restart the service in the next three weeks
One of them is the purported corporate governance issues, in addition to those in Gensol impacting the startup indirectly
not as certain as it appears
The Indian stock exchange regulator ordered Jaggi and his brother to resign from the publicly listed Gensol while launching the probe
The fund proposed to merge the startup with its B2B fleet operator, Lithium Urban
However, the BluSmart board has not agreed to the offer, as it priced the startup at a 60% cut from its earlier $300 million
valuation.Lithium Urban is struggling as a company with mounting losses, and most of its vehicles are reaching their end of life, A
Technology NewsRoom learned last month
Eversource Capital and Lithium Urban did not respond to requests for comment at the time.Indian conglomerate Adani Group also showed
interest in buying the EV cab-hailing startup to use its fleet at its airports, A Technology NewsRoom learned last month
The company had early talks with the BluSmart board
It already has Uber as a fleet partner.Adani Group did not respond to a request for comment.Nevertheless, BluSmart investors hope the
startup could be better positioned to attract investments from strategics like Eversource Capital, Uber, or Adani after restarting its
