TLI Staff
Bangalore: Commercial electric vehicle (EV) platform Turno on Thursday said that it has raised $13.8 million (Rs 112 crores) in its Series A funding from global investors such as B Capital, Quona Capital, Stellaris Venture Partners and others.
In an official statement, the start-up said that it plans to use the funding to build a proprietary battery tech platform to address issues around end-of-life battery value, amid global concerns around EV batteries and e-waste.
Founded by ex-Zoomcar executives Hemanth Aluru and Sudhindra Reddy in January 2022, Turno currently operates in five states— i.e. Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Delhi NCR, and Maharashtra.
“Today 80-85% of India’s automotive fuel consumption is driven by commercial vehicles with internal combustion engines. Yet, there is a strong desire to transition to a green economy and so, commercial EV adoption holds significant promise,”said Hemanth Aluru, Co-Founder & CEO of Turno.
The company statement said it has identified a massive untapped opportunity to create a proprietary battery technology platform to repurpose EV batteries into large scale second-life energy storage systems.
Sudhindra Reddy, Co-Founder & COO of Turno noted, “Our endeavor is to make the EV technology equitably available to everyone through business model innovations that can continually bring down the costs of ownership. We believe this is the only way to make India’s EV mission successful.”
Turno has forged multiple national level tie-ups with leading EV manufacturers such as M&M, Piaggio, Omega Seiki Mobility and Etrio, to sell their vehicles countrywide.