Three Wheels United Raises $10 Mn In Series A FundingThe startup plans to scale up two-wheeler and three-wheeler financing in India by partnering with the government and other industry players

Three Wheels United (TWU), a global fintech company for electric vehicle (EV) financing, has raised $10 million as a part of Series A funding led by Delta Corp Holdings, with participation from new and existing investors.

The current funding round is a combination of equity and debt from Delta Corp Holdings, with participation from existing investor Techstars. The round also saw participation from investors in the Middle East and Europe as well as Grip Invest. The new investment will be used towards entry into new geographies in India and international markets, for strengthening operations in existing cities, to enhance TWU's technology platform and to grow its customer base, said a statement.

TWU has previously raised funding from Asian Development Bank Ventures, Techstars and Microsoft and from investors in the Middle East, Europe and the US.

"TWU was founded with a belief that technology can accelerate our efforts towards promoting sustainable last-mile connectivity. Over the last several years of working in the EV ecosystem, we have gathered deep insights into some of the barriers to mass adoption of EVs. The lack of affordable financing continues to be a key obstacle for low-income clients to switch to EVs. We have identified these challenges and we have created a scalable solution that is tailored for our clients," said Cedrick Tandong, CEO and co-founder, TWU.

An industry report by Niti Ayog and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI India) centered around EV financing states that the EV financing market will be at a size of $50 billion in 2030—about 80 per cent of the current size of India's retail vehicle finance industry.

"We believe TWU is addressing a significant need in the EV ecosystem. To accomplish a large-scale EV shift, access to easy financing is a critical element. In TWU, we found a team that was passionate about the space but deeply strategic about the business. With their deep understanding of financing needs of low-income clients and through the use of innovative technology, they have built a highly profitable and scalable business model that can allow millions of micro-entrepreneurs to make the EV shift," said Mudit Paliwal, CEO, Delta Corp Holdings.

Founded in 2017, TWU provides affordable financing solutions for drivers to easily make the switch from conventional vehicles to EVs in the two and three-wheeler categories. The company employs behaviour-informed proprietary technology to increase the accuracy of credit risk assessment and loan repayment rates, expanding access to financial products to populations that would otherwise be excluded from vehicle financing. "Because of its platform, micro entrepreneurs can get a fair interest rate and loans covering up to 100 per cent of the cost of the vehicle without any collateral. Unlike traditional banks that collect EMIs at the end of the month in a big chunk, the platform incentivises money collection on a daily/weekly basis in small amounts. In doing so, TWU is able to tap into the finances of the drivers when the auto-rickshaw drivers actually make money and in a way that it's aligned with the lifestyle of the drivers," said the statement. TWU has over 50,000 drivers on its platform, offering them various products and services. The company has financed over 4,000 auto-rickshaws, claiming a reduction of over 172,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and the generation of an extra $71 million in income for the drivers.