Ola Electric acquires e-scooter firm Etergo to launch own two-wheelers in 2021

Ola Electric, the electric vehicle unit of Indian ride-hailing heavyweight Ola, has announced its acquisition of Etergo, a European electric scooter company, to help bolster its plans to build its own two-wheelers locally by next year.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Photo credit: Ola

Based out of Amsterdam, Etergo’s scooters use “swappable” batteries that enable them to travel up to 240 kilometers. The company, which has raised a total of US$23.3 million to date, is currently valued at around 84 million euros (US$92 million), according to a Reuters report.

With the deal, Ola now owns the intellectual property of Etergo as well as its EV design and engineering capabilities. The company recently started offering preorders for its fully electric scooter, AppScooter, which has GPS, 4G connectivity, and Android app support.

In addition, the Etergo team will join Ola Electric as part of the deal, according to a statement.

Ola said it plans to build a suite of electric and smart mobility solutions globally. It also looks to begin production work for its own EVs this year and launch its first scooter in 2021.

The company is currently running several pilots to deploy EVs and charging solutions across cities in India. However, Ola Electric said it will keep its focus on two- and three-wheelers for now.

Ola’s electric vehicle arm started running these pilots in India last year in cooperation with local power distribution companies. It raised US$57.7 million in March 2019 as part of its series A round, with SoftBank following up with a US$250 million injection later in July.

“The future of mobility is electric, and the post-Covid world presents an opportunity for us to accelerate the adoption of electric mobility globally,” Ola Electric founder Bhavish Aggarwal said.