River raises USD 40 million in Series B led by Yamaha Motor

River, a Bangalore-based startup specializing in electric scooter manufacturing and sales in India, has raised USD 40 million in a Series B round led by Yamaha Motor Co.

In June 2023, River secured USD 15 million in funding led by Al Futtaim Group, a conglomerate based in Dubai. In July 2022, River raised USD 11 million in its Series A funding round with Lowercarbon Capital led by Chris Sacca, along with investment from Toyota Ventures, Maniv Mobility, and Trucks VC. Earlier in March 2021, River had secured a seed round of USD 2 million from venture capital funds focused on mobility, including Maniv Mobility based in Israel and Trucks VC based in San Francisco.

River is involved in the development, production, and distribution of electric scooters in India. It has established River Mobility Private Limited in Bengaluru as a subsidiary, offering electric scooters. The Indian government is actively supporting efforts to electrify transportation to address environmental concerns and promote domestic manufacturing. The electric two-wheeler market is witnessing significant growth as a result. Through its investment in River, Yamaha Motor aims to explore new business opportunities in India’s EV market, which is the largest market for electric two-wheelers globally.

On this occasion, Aravind Mani, Co-Founder and CEO at River, commented, “Super excited to welcome our latest investor Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. to River. The trust that such an iconic company has put in the design, engineering and technology that we built at River is very encouraging. Thanks for the continued faith and support from our existing investors, Al-Futtaim Automotive, Lowercarbon Capital, Toyota Ventures, and Maniv. Special thanks to the entire team at River who made this possible. It’s a privilege to build River with you all.”

As outlined in the Yamaha Motor Group Environmental Plan 2050, the company aims to reduce Scope 3 CO2 emissions (emissions produced from the company’s value chain, such as the use of sold products) by 90% by 2050 compared to 2010. This investment represents one of the company’s initiatives toward achieving this goal.

Also read: Bengaluru-based EV startup River launches e-scooter ‘Indie’ starting at INR 1,25,000