Author: Aishwarya Kumar
When AdvantEdge Partners began investing in mobility startups a decade ago, shared transport platforms and electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure were still fringe bets.
Founder-market fit, not fund size, shaped its thesis: Build asset-light platforms first, and add physical infrastructure only when there is revenue visibility, recounts Kunal Khattar, a Founding Partner. That approach led to early bets on two-wheeler ride-sharing, bus mobility and EV charging — segments that addressed the affordability and utilisation gaps unique to India.
As the firm raises its third fund, it is doubling down on commercial electrification and capitalefficient models, Khattar says, arguing that the country’s mobility transition will be driven as much by unit economics as technology.
Edited excerpts:
What is your fund thesis?
We think of the fund itself as a startup. The first question is foundermarket fit, where we have deep insight and access. Given our automotive ecosystem exposure, mobility was a natural focus.
Second, capital alone isn’t differentiation. We bring domain depth. Our early thesis centred on shared mobility — affordable, scalable and assetlight platforms suited to India, where twowheelers dominate, and price sensitivity is high.
Today, that thesis extends to EV transition and enabling infrastructure, especially in commercial mobility.
Can you walk us through the fund deployments till date?
Fund I (2015) had $10 million deployed across 24 companies. Early bets included Rapido, Chalo and Shuttl. Fund II was $30 million deployed across 22 investments, including Exponent Energy, Moonrider, Astranova and Bytebeam. Fund III is $6070 million — first close completed, and early investments are underway.
Cheque sizes were ₹2–3 crore (Fund I) and are expected to be ₹6– 10 crore in Fund III.
How do you balance asset-light and asset-heavy bets?
In the zerotoone journey, we strongly prefer assetlight models.
Category creation in India involves pivots. If founders lock capital in physical assets too early, runway risk increases — something that Covid (pandemic) exposed. Assetlight marketplaces survived revenue collapse; assetheavy operators struggled with fixed costs. Assetheavy bets are made when they generate revenue from day 1 or can be financed through debt.
For instance, EV charging infrastructure can be assetheavy but cashgenerating from day zero.
What is a contrarian view you hold?
Most capital is flowing into personal EV mobility.
We believe the transition will be faster on the commercial side. Commercial fleets consume far more fuel and benefit immediately from EV economics. The operating leverage will drive adoption faster than consumer preference alone.
What are you looking forward to next?
The biggest opportunity is the transition from ICE (internal cumbustion engine) to EV in commercial mobility. We are focused on infrastructure, financing and fleetlevel electrification — the enablers of this shift.
Originally posted at www.thehindubusinessline.com/specials/emerging-entrepreneurs/a-leg-up-for-asset-light-disruptors/article70636366.ece