As India zoomed past Japan to be the third largest automobile market in the world in early 2024, the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem swerved into the fast lane, with policies driving down running costs and innovations going full throttle, backed by some of the most prolific investors in India.

A higher rate of switch from fossil fuel-run to battery-powered vehicles has helped India stay the course to its EV30@30 mission. In sync with the government’s 2017 projection that 30% of private car sales, 70% of commercial vehicle sales, 40% of bus sales, and 80% of two-wheeler and three-wheeler sales to be electric by 2030, the $54.4 Bn EV market in the country is likely to accelerate 2.4 times to reach $132.2 Bn by then, according to Inc42’s ‘India’s Electric Vehicle Startup Report 2025’. This journey will produce an estimated 5 Cr job opportunities.

When startups chose to hitch a ride on the booming EV market, investors too revved up to make the best use of a swing in the industry. Venture capitalists (VCs), private equity (PE) firms, and angel investors pumped more than $3.7 Bn across 236 deals into startups working in segments like original equipment manufacturing, electric motors and battery packs between 2014 and 2024.

We have also seen the rise of two EV unicorns – Ola Electric and Ather Energy – and four soonicorns – Batterysmart, Lohum, Zypp and BluSmart – along the way.

The investors, however, slammed the brakes in 2024, when private funding slowed down nearly 31% to $624 Mn across 43 deals. Stricter regulatory scrutiny of EVs, lack of clarity over incentivisation, and profitability concerns of startups played speed-breakers.

Some investors, though, refused to change the track and drove on, asserting confidence in the EV startup space which is estimated to reach $110.74 Bn by 2029. Inc42 has compiled a list of top ten such investors who have been instrumental in the growth of the market.

The following list is based on the number of investment deals done with EV startups.

1. Blume Ventures

Founded in 2011 by Karthik Reddy and Sanjay Nath, Blume Ventures is an early-stage VC investor that claims to remain ‘lifelong partners’ for the startup. The Mumbai-based VC firm has made a total of 337 investments until now, backing startups like Purplle, LeverageEdu, Spinny and Namma Yatri.

In the EV sector, the VC firm’s investment portfolio........

© Inc42