As the demand for bicycles is growing, Ahmedabad-based e-mobility startup, LightSpeed Mobility Private Limited, which manufactures electric bicycles, saw its sales volumes double during the pandemic.
Lightspeed Mobility’s director, Rahil Rupawala said – “We used to sell some 1,000 electric bicycles before the pandemic. However, the upsurge in demand following the pandemic helped us sell our entire inventory in June, July and August. The sales growth in those months was at least 200%. Averaging this over the entire 2020-21, we have doubled our sales volumes so far.”
“To meet growing demand from across the country, we are looking at increasing our production. We aim to raise funds in the range of Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore in the next six months. This will meet our capital requirements for the expansion,” added Rupawala.
When it comes to an electric bicycle, it is akin to a regular bicycle but provides the ease of moving without pedaling and using it on the motor as needed. Only initially, the driver needs to pedal the electric bicycle as later on the motor helps it move. This means it provides the flexibility for commuting as well as for workouts. LightSpeed Mobility designs, manufactures, and sells electric bicycles and assembles them at its workshop in Saraspur area of Ahmedabad. It offers five models.
Mr. Rupawala added – “We aim to double our sales further by the end of 2022. To keep the user interest up, we are looking at launching new models in the months to come while expanding our team and dealer network.”
This startup was founded in 2016. It was incubated at the Venture Studio from 2015 to 2017. At present, they have a dealer network in place in Ahmedabad, Pune, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Nagpur, among others, and are aiming to expand to other territories.
A grant of Rs 21 lakh from the government of Gujarat was also received by the startup in 2016-17.
