FreshBus, an electric bus company located in Bangalore, has secured Rs 26 crore from ixigo, a travel technology platform, in a seed round. This is a three-year-old startup’s first funding.
According to the press release, FreshBus would use the funding to start up upscale intercity electric bus services in India.
The IOT-enabled real-time air-quality and temperature monitoring, security CCTVs, personal charging stations, Wi-Fi, and comfy seats are just a few of the features offered by the smart bus platform, which will operate on a full-stack basis.
With the introduction of 24 electric buses, FreshBus asserts that it would debut its services simultaneously from Hyderabad and Bengaluru. It anticipates announcing its first operational routes in March 2023. By 2026, the business hopes to have over 1000 buses operating around the nation.
Sudhakar Reddy Chirra, who previously developed the bus aggregator Abhibus, founded FreshBus. Abhibus was bought by ixigo in August 2021 through a cash and stock business transfer agreement.
The ixigo IPO is scheduled to take place in August 2021, and it has already filed a draught red herring prospectus (DRHP) in order to raise Rs 1,600 crore. With a $53 million round headed by Singapore-based GIC in July 2021, Ixigo has so far received Rs 433 crore.
