Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s first electric scooter rental platform, driEV has partnered with Odisha Tourism to organise mega cyclothon-Tour De Ekamra to promote cycling as a hobby as well as a sport.
Organised in partnership with The Juggernauts, CII and YI at Kalinga Stadium on Sunday, the full-fledged pilot was done throughout the 26 km and 50 km routes with the cyclists. There has been a savings of 50 kg of CO2 emissions in doing so compared to traditional fuel operated two-wheelers, said the organisers.
Founded by Ankur B Patel and Santwana Sagnika, driEV is now a 12-member team with 3 SDG’s- Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11) and Climate Action (SDG 13). The company aims to make lithium batteries in Odisha in the future.
Ankur, an alumnus of XIMB, left his job in 2018 and started a renewable energy startup focusing on solar energy and his company is the first in Odisha to manufacture solar modules.
“In 2019, I and Santwana started a fintech firm for a banking product. Once the product was live, we saw the struggle faced by thousands of college students due to the lack of public transport. This is when we started building IoT for electric vehicles which was not only was cost-effective but also pollution-free,” said Ankur. “The whole fintech behind renting a bike to getting its maintenance online was done by the team in-house,” he added.
driEV is an electric scooter rental provider startup based out of Odisha, with a capital of Rs 5 crore raised by seed funding. It aims to revolutionise micro-mobility through bringing in sustainable models that are easily accessible, affordable and shareable for all.
An exclusive test ride kiosk set up at the event was a crowd puller. driEV provides electric scooters for monthly and annual subscriptions where a full year of owning driEV will cost you only Rs 1999 per month. The company is planning to set up charging stations throughout the city as well.
