bp Ventures invests $9M in India’s intercity bus platform, Zingbus
India has the second largest road network in the world, reaching around 6.4 million kilometers and around 50 million people a day travel between its cities. Zingbus was founded to address some of the existing challenges of intercity mobility, including potentially unsafe boarding points and unreliability by enabling transport that is accessible and reliable.
Since its inception in 2019, Zingbus has worked with small and medium sized bus operators to serve more than two million users across 300 Indian cities.
The company’s tech stack aims to provide an ecosystem that empowers traditional bus operators in India to transition from ICE (internal combustion engine) powered buses to electric vehicles (EVs).
Zingbus CEO and Co-Founder, Prashant Kumar, said: “Electric buses in India are cheaper to run than diesel ones, and with the Indian Government targeting a 100% electric bus fleet by 2030, we saw an opportunity to not only make the transition from ICE to electric more streamlined and cost efficient, but to also make life easier and safer for people travelling between cities.
“We’ve created a best-in-class tech platform that addresses the major challenges of running an electric bus, empowering bus operators with the tech they need to transition. This approach makes the model highly scalable and could allow us to support over 3000 electric buses on Indian highways in the next 5-6 years. That’s what we see as being our superpower.”
Zingbus has signed a commercial agreement with Jio-bp pulse – the electric mobility joint venture between Reliance and bp – to utilise its EV charging network and convenience sites across the country for bus operators on the Zingbus platform. Jio-bp pulse operates India’s largest EV fleet charging hubs and public fast charge points in various cities and major highways. It has recently installed its 5,000th charge point.
Gareth Burns, Vice President of bp Ventures, said: “Zingbus’ end-to-end tech platform looks to benefit both bus operators and customers, providing an affordable solution to intercity travel. Our investment and Jio-bp pulse’s commercial agreement could help bus operators in their transition to electric fleets whilst delivering a service that is reliable and lower cost.
“This investment demonstrates bp Ventures’ ambition to champion innovation in the energy sector, alongside working in support of bp’s broader strategy.
“We look forward to supporting Zingbus as they continue to grow.”
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