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E-scooter Maker River Raises $15mn From Silicon Valley Investors, Others

River's third round of funding comes after a USD 2 million seed round in March 2021 and a USD 11 million round in July 2022. River is also Al-Futtaim, Toyota Ventures, Trucks VC, and Maniv Mobility's lone Indian investment

River, an electric scooter manufacturer, has secured USD 15 million in a round led by the UAE-based Al-Futtaim Group. Existing investors in the round included Silicon Valley investor Chris Sacca's Lowercarbon Capital, Toyota Ventures, Maniv Mobility, and Trucks VC, according to the company.

The additional capital will assist the firm in expanding its manufacturing and distribution networks, with deliveries planned to begin in August of this year. While other electric scooter companies such as Ather and Ola have received hundreds of millions of dollars, Aravind Mani, CEO and Co-founder  believes that USD 15 million is sufficient at this point of the company's development.

River, established by Mani and Vipin George, has already begun accepting reservations for its first vehicle, Indie. Mani did not provide  anticipated production and sales figures, as the company is expected to raise the price of the scooter in response to the central government's decision to cut the subsidy per car under its scheme to encourage the use of electric vehicles.

He stated that the corporation would make no modifications to the declared model and that the government decision would solely effect the pricing of its automobile.

The national government lowered the subsidy for electric two-wheelers from Rs 15,000 to Rs 10,000 per kilowatt hour (kWh). River has a 4kWh battery, which could result in a Rs 20,000 price rise.

River's third round of funding comes after a USD 2 million seed round in March 2021 and a USD 11 million round in July 2022. River is also the sole Indian investment for Al-Futtaim, Toyota Ventures, Trucks VC, and Maniv Mobility.

The Al-Futtaim Group is a multinational company with operations in over 20 countries and five operating divisions (automotive, retail, real estate, healthcare, and financial services).


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