River Mobility said on Wednesday it has raised $120 million in an oversubscribed Series C round as it prepares to ramp up manufacturing, broaden its product range and expand its retail footprint in the country.
The round is among the largest private investments in India’s electric two-wheeler sector.
The investment round, comprising about 85% equity and the rest venture debt, was led by Elev8 Venture Partners and Claypond Capital, with participation from Singularity AMC, Anicut Capital, 360 ONE Asset, JIF Capital and HDFC AMC. Existing investors Yamaha Motor Corporation, Al-Futtaim Group and Mitsui & Co. also participated, along with venture debt providers Alteria Capital, Innoven Capital and Stride Ventures.
The Bengaluru-based electric scooter maker's latest fundaraise also marks its first major equity backing from Indian institutional investors, with Elev8 Venture Partners and Claypond Capital coming on to its cap table alongside its existing global investors.
In an interview with Mint, chief executive Aravind Mani said River would used the fresh funds to expand distribution, launch new products and add manufacturing capacity.
Mani said that River plans to cross 200 retail outlets by March 2027, from 75 currently, opening roughly 8-10 stores a month, and introduce a new scooter line next year. The company is targeting about 400 large-format outlets across 180 cities by March 2028, up from 40-45 cities at present.
“The next River product is planned for 2027, and we want a few hundred stores operating before it arrives,” Mani said.
The funding marks a rapid scale-up for River, which launched its first scooter, Indie, in 2023. It has raised about $190 million to date and sold over 50,000 units since. River's design focus on a high-strength steel frame, long wheelbase and 14-inch wheels has led consumers and reviewers to describe the Indie as the “SUV of scooters” in India’s electric two-wheeler market.
“River was built as a utility-lifestyle brand,” Mani said. “The core target is the solo entrepreneur: a carpenter, plumber or other user who needs a practical vehicle for work as well as personal mobility…so we deliberately made a stylish but utilitarian product,” he added.
Mani said about 80% of River’s stores, and therefore most of its sales, are in the five southern states, largely because the company has been present there longer than in north India. River now plans to add outlets in Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Ahmedabad as it pushes deeper into northern and western markets.
“New stores are selling about 70-100 vehicles each, while the network averages more than 80 scooters per store a month. The focus is to make every store profitable,” he said.
River Mobility, founded in 2021, recorded its strongest monthly performance in July 2026, dispatching 5,944 units of its Indie scooter. This was up from 1,680 units a year earlier and 4,449 units in June 2026. The company is now the seventh-largest electric two-wheeler brand by monthly sales, behind TVS Motor, Bajaj Auto, Ather Energy, Hero MotoCorp, Ola Electric and Ampere Vehicles.
“Our addressable market is the overall scooter market, especially 125cc buyers, rather than only existing EV shoppers,” Mani added. “We also see interest from users of 150cc-plus motorcycles, including customers who identify with brands or vehicles such as Royal Enfield and Mahindra Thar.”
Global demand for electric vehicles (EVs) continues to rise even as input costs and currency volatility add pressure for manufacturers. Recent estimates by BloombergNEF show passenger EV sales reaching more than 23 million units globally in 2026. Separately, Korean market research firm SNE Research has estimated that seven of the world’s top ten EV battery makers are Chinese companies, together accounting for over 70% of global EV battery usage in the first five months of 2026.
That concentration means Indian EV manufacturers still rely heavily on imported cells for their scooters. Mani said River’s vehicle is otherwise designed and manufactured locally, with the suspension, brakes and frame sourced and made in and around Bengaluru.
“River’s core competencies are vehicle design and technology, product branding, distribution and service. Cell manufacturing is not,” he said. “India does not yet make cells at meaningful scale, so the industry imports them from markets such as China and Korea.”
He added that River is actively engaging with companies looking to manufacture cells in India and would prefer to source locally once scaled domestic supply is available.
According to its latest filings with the registrar of companies, River reported a revenue of about ₹104 crore in fiscal 2025 (FY25), up from just ₹5 crore in FY24. Its losses, however, more than doubled in the same period, rising to ₹176 crore in FY25 from ₹82 crore in FY24.
River competes with other premium electric two-wheeler makers in the ₹150,000-200,000 price segment, including Ather Energy, Ultraviolette Automotive, Ola Electric, Simple Energy and Bajaj Auto’s Chetak, among others.
Rival brands are also stepping up fund-raising. Ather Energy closed a ₹1,300 crore qualified institutional placement in July 2026, backed by investors such as Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and HDFC Mutual Fund. Bengaluru-based EV startup Simple Energy raised ₹250 crore in a Series B funding round combining debt and equity in June 2026. Ultraviolette Automotive raised $45 million in an ongoing Series E round in December 2025.