Samarth Kholkar and Sandeep Mukherjee have been finest buddies for 15 years, and the duo would typically talk about enterprise concepts that might positively influence the neighborhood. The concepts went nowhere till they come across the topic of electric mobility. Sandeep got here with immense publicity to a mature electric vehicle (EV) house, whereas Samarth had a powerful information of Goa’s tourism trade. A mix of their expertise led them to launch B: Live in 2018. “We realised that we could leverage sustainable tourism to drive a better understanding of electric mobility. So, we came up with an idea to build a platform that would offer a first-hand EV experience. We wanted people to explore unseen locations and discover something new about themselves,” says Sandeep.
The title B: Live stemmed from the need to make folks depart their day by day routines and company lives apart and really reside. “B: Live is the abbreviated version of being alive,” explains Sandeep. In tune with their imaginative and prescient, the crew performed their first e-bike tour to the scenic Divar Island in Goa. And there was no trying again. The startup just lately launched its first multi-brand EV expertise retailer in Hyderabad and has an unique 20 year-partnership with Goa Tourism.
Driving EV adoption
Today, B: Live is India’s first multi-brand omnichannel EV platform that lets customers uncover, personal, and use electric autos. The thought was all the time to supply a first-hand EV expertise that wasn’t obtainable in India. “I would not be wrong if I say 99.9 percent of Indians have never experienced an electric vehicle. And that is why we decided to provide people with that experience. We came up with a platform with different kinds of electric vehicles, from where users can choose their EV, try it out, and talk to our EV experts. They can see and compare different electric vehicle products and get a fair assessment of what every product stands for and what it means for the customer,” says Sandeep.
The journey started with their initiative known as EV tourism. This was their technique to give customers a hands-on expertise of EV. The B: Live EV retailer was launched in August 2020 as an internet market for electric autos. Currently, it hosts over 20 manufacturers of electric cycles and electric scooters. “EV enthusiasts can explore, experience, and purchase top electric two-wheelers (e2Ws) and electric bicycles (e-bikes) designed and manufactured by several Indian brands, including Hero Electric, Ampere, Hero Electric and Go Zero Lightspeed, etc,” explains Sandeep, including, “We are making conscious efforts to facilitate EV adoption in India, where people find it challenging to shift to clean mobility because they haven’t had any experience with it. Our online store and experience center aim to offer an immersive experience that influences masses to ditch fuel-based vehicles and adopt EVs.”
Over the years, the crew has had over 20,000 prospects who’ve skilled EVs with them. And there is no stopping. Even although they got here up with one expertise retailer, there are about 100 extra set to come back up throughout the nation.
Tiding over challenges
While the crew has been steadily rising, it wasn’t simple to cope with mindset boundaries. The duo observed a lot of confusion and misinformation over how an EV scored higher than a common two-wheeler. Today, B: Live is current in 15 vacationer locations throughout 9 states. “When we offer an EV experience, people think ‘this is really amazing, I would like to buy one.’ So that was the initial challenge that we faced – making people open up to the idea of EV,” he says.
It was throughout the lockdown when the crew determined to be extra digital-focused. They digitally received folks to expertise electric autos, whereas sitting within the consolation of their dwelling rooms. “We went on a complete remodelling spree and started providing home demos, home experiences, digital live experiences, and more. And that changed the game significantly. We changed our strategy from being completely offline to having both online as well as offline services,” he says.
The startup even went on to boost over $1.5 million. Sandeep says, “We are also going to raise a big series very soon in the coming months. And we receive multiple accolades from different state governments, the government of India, and different platforms for our efforts to drive sustainable mobility in the country.”
Hitting the appropriate viewers
Having a digital footprint is one other essential issue for their success, which gave them a wider attain and made them accessible to customers throughout India.
As India is one of the fastest-growing EV markets globally with a number of promising manufacturers, B: Live needed to method the target market – Indians – with a .in area title. “We started B: Live to drive a deeper awareness of EVs in the country. The .in extension was the best way to approach our target audience – the people in India. It helped us gain trust, confidence, and also helped us understand the changing consumer behaviour and preferences,” he says.
Like B: Live, numerous corporations throughout sectors have opted for a .in area title. The National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) has helped numerous companies throughout sectors simply get entry to a .in or .Bharat area. Companies can select between 22 languages for a area title after choosing .in and .Bharat.
“We get over one lakh inquiries monthly from across the country because of our website. This has further helped us build a strong community of sustainable travellers who promote eco-friendly practices and influence the larger audience,” says Sandeep.
The highway forward
The present progress has solely inspired the crew to dream greater. “We are putting together a digital platform for our consumers where you can learn about EVs, own, and use them. You can also learn about EVs through our e-bike tours, EV experts, and the forums we create on our digital platform. Through our service, users can own an electric vehicle, and we will take care of everything related to service maintenance, upgrades, ensuring the batteries are in good health, etc. And in terms of national footprint, we are looking at having over 100 experience centres across India and having more and more brands associated with us because we are always going to be a multi-brand entity,” Sandeep indicators off.
The ‘Shaping India Inc’s Online Growth’ collection chronicles the journeys of startups and SMEs in India and the way creating an internet presence on the .in or .Bharat area powered their success tales.