The Turning Point [YourStory Media] - Why this entrepreneur decided to launch an EV startup?

Source: YourStory Media

Author: Apurva P.

The thought of providing affordable mobility for middle-class families led Harsh Vardhan Didwania to start up in the electric vehicles space. In January 2018, he launched Bhubhaneswar-based EV startup EeVe along with his father, JP Didwania.

“Since then we have already onboarded 52 dealers across the Eastern part of the country, in Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana. We have sold more than 1,300 vehicles in these cities,” the founder says.

The #EV startup now offers four products: Xeniaa, 4U, Wind, and Your. Of this, two are in the Li-ion and two is in the lead-acid battery segment, Harsh Vardhan says.

The #EV startup plans to inaugurate a fully automated production unit with the capacity to produce 2.5 lakh vehicles per year by the end of FY21. It is also planning to expand sales and service to 250 cities across India by December 2020.

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[The Turning Point] Why this entrepreneur decided to launch an EV startup

Harsh Vardhan Didwania was always concerned about rising pollution, the depletion of non-renewable resources, and increase in the prices of fuel. The thought of providing affordable mobility for middle-class families led him to start up in the electric vehicles space. In January 2018, he launched Bhubaneswar-based EV startup EeVe along with his father, JP Didwania.

Funding Alert: Dairy foods startup Milk Mantra raises $10M in debt from US International DFC

Source: YourStory Media

Author: Sujata R Sangwan

U.S. International Development Finance Corporation Corporation (DFC) has committed a $10 million loan to Milk Mantra Dairy Pvt Ltd, an Odisha-based new-age dairy food startup in India.

Milk Mantra Dairy Pvt Ltd was set up in 2009 by Srikumar Misra to solve the problem of trust deficit between consumers and food in the large $50 billion dairy industry in India. Over the last eight years, the startup said it has sustainably impacted over 60,000 farmer families, helping them increase productivity by 31 percent, and incomes by 70 percent.

The company’s revenues have scaled from $2 million in 2013 to $32 million in 2020, and it is reaching more than 300,000 households every day. Milk Mantra Dairy Pvt Ltd also has other marquee equity investors like Eight Roads (Fidelity), Aavishkaar Capital, and Neev Fund.

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[Funding alert] Dairy foods startup Milk Mantra raises $10M in debt from US International DFC

US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has committed a $10 million loan to Milk Mantra, an Odisha-based new-age dairy food startup in India. Ajay Rao, Director of DFC's Social Enterprise Finance Team, who led this transaction, said, "We have been very impressed by the Milk Mantra team and its efforts to build a socially responsible business that empowers smallholder farmers while strengthening food security."