Kochi: Four engineering graduates decided to launch a company and their idea was to make an electric bike. Sounds like the typical startup story with stock settings and characters? This is a bit different. To begin with, they did not make their dream bike. Instead, they decided to set up charging stations for e-vehicles as they soon realised that the roads were not yet powered enough to host the EV revolution.
The early pivoting seems to be reaping huge dividends as chargeMOD, the Kozhikode-based startup, is targetting a turnover of Rs 10 crore by the end of this fiscal. It has already crossed Rs 8.2 crore. It is a huge leap from the Rs 2.4 crore turnover the company clocked in 2022-23.
Launched in 2019, chargeMOD boasts of a network of over 2,300 charging stations across the country in 10 states and customer support in six languages. The company has 135 fast charging stations and 1,200 slow charging stations in Kerala, a fast-growing EV market. chargeMOD is the only public electric vehicle charge provider for EV autos in Kerala. It is also the first company in Kerala to develop an indigenous mobile app for charging stations.
M Ramanunni, V Anoop, Advaith C and Chris Thomas launched the startup a year after they graduated from Government Engineering College, Kozhikode.
So far, the chargeMOD network has facilitated over 2 lakh charging sessions, attracting drivers to plug in their electric vehicles. The network gains over 120 new subscribers daily. This has resulted in over 4 million kilometres being driven on the chargeMOD Network, delivering more than 2.2 gigawatt-hours of energy. Additionally, the network has prevented over 995 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, with drivers collectively avoiding more than 160,000 litres of gasoline.
According to CEO Ramanunni, chargeMOD is the only company which manufactures EV charging units in Kerala. “However, we don’t own any of our charging stations. We mainly follow the asset-light model wherein we help people with appropriate land set up our charging stations. Either the land owner can directly invest to install the stations or we facilitate third-party investors to spend on installation. We have also exported our hardware to Europe and UAE,” he said.
The company is expanding its reach by installing an additional 200 fast charging stations in Kerala. Their next major endeavour involves establishing Ultra Fast Chargers throughout India, ranging in capacity from 120 kW to 340 kW.
One of chargeMOD’s flagship offerings is its EV charging app, which allows users to easily locate charging stations, initiate charging sessions, and monitor their charging progress – all with just a few taps on their smartphones. This seamless and user-friendly interface ensures that EV owners can charge up wherever and whenever they need to, eliminating range anxiety and facilitating hassle-free journeys.
The startup has also made strategic partnerships and collaborations. As a subsidiary of BPM Power Private Limited incubating under Kerala Startup Mission, the company has collaborated with industry giants such as Larsen & Toubro, Murugappa Group, Kerala State Electricity Board, ANERT, TVS Motors, Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd, Persistent Systems, Cochin Shipyard, Tata Power, National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC), Energy Management Centre(EMC), Keltron, and Kochi Metro Rail Limited on various projects.
chargeMOD has won several recognitions, including the Kerala State e-Governance Award for Best Startup in 2021-2022. The nascent company has employed 48 people, including 36 engineers.
Recently the company bagged a pre-seed investment of Rs 2.5 crore from Phoenix Angels. It has raised a total of Rs 3.5 crore in funding.
(Startup Saturday is Onmanorama’s weekend series featuring promising startups from Kerala. Find the previous stories here)