The archive · Money & Fintech · Strategic decision · 2022–2025
Turno's bet: finance used electric three-wheelers for India's drivers — $28M by Dec 2025
Ex-Zoomcar executives build a marketplace for used commercial EVs with in-house loans and battery-value guarantees; ~$28M raised since 2022.
Turno (Blubble)
What the business is
Turno is a marketplace for new and used electric commercial vehicles, mostly three-wheelers, that also provides financing and battery-value guarantees for buyers.
Starting capital：~$28M total by December 2025: $13.8M Series A co-led by B Capital and Quona (February 2023), a $5.5–6M extension led by British International Investment (May 2024), and a ₹50 Cr (~$5.5M) pre-Series B led by Stellaris Ventures (December 2025).
How it started
Hemanth Aluru and Sudhindra Reddy, both former Zoomcar C-suite executives, founded Turno in 2022 in Bengaluru under parent Blubble. Coming from the car-sharing company, they bet that the biggest obstacle to India's electric three-wheeler transition was not the vehicles but the financing and resale risk around them.
What happened
Turno sells EVs from manufacturers including Mahindra & Mahindra, Piaggio, Euler Motors, Etrio, Omega Seiki Mobility and Altigreen, online and through physical stores. It raised a $13.8M Series A in February 2023, followed by a $5.5–6M extension led by British International Investment in May 2024, which Inc42 said would fund expansion and a proprietary battery-technology platform. In December 2025 the company raised ₹50 Cr in a pre-Series B led by Stellaris Ventures with B Capital, Quona Accion Inclusion Fund and BII, pushing total funding to roughly $28M.
How it ended up
Still running and expanding: as of December 2025 Turno had raised ~$28M across three rounds, was selling electric three-wheelers across multiple Indian states, and said the pre-Series B would fund growth and operations (Entrepreneur India, 2025-12-26).
Background
Turno, founded in 2022 by ex-Zoomcar executives Hemanth Aluru and Sudhindra Reddy, sells new and used electric commercial three-wheelers in India and provides the financing that banks mostly will not: loans at a ₹49,999 minimum downpayment and a fixed 10.5% interest rate.
The model attacks the real friction in India's commercial-EV shift. Auto drivers and small fleet owners are often credit-invisible to lenders, and used EV values collapse if batteries are not managed — so Turno built inspection, financing and a battery-technology platform around resale, selling vehicles from Mahindra & Mahindra, Piaggio, Euler Motors, Etrio, Omega Seiki and Altigreen.
Capital followed in steps: a $13.8M Series A in February 2023, a $5.5–6M extension led by British International Investment in May 2024, and a ₹50 Cr pre-Series B led by Stellaris Ventures in December 2025, taking total funding to about $28M.
Turno competes with Altigreen, Omega Seiki, Kinetic Green and Euler Motors, and as of December 2025 was using the new capital to expand operations rather than to chase a single national rollout — a measured bet that bundling credit with EV distribution can be a durable business as India's commercial fleet electrifies.
What has to be true
- The bet is sharp and verifiable: used commercial EVs need credit and battery-value assurance, not just cheaper vehicles.
- The numbers are concrete and dated: ₹49,999 down and 10.5% fixed (Inc42, 2024-05-29), and ~$28M total raised as of December 2025 (Entrepreneur India).
- The company is genuinely recent — founded 2022 — and has been repeatedly covered by Economic Times, Inc42, Financial Express and Entrepreneur India since February 2023.
- It is a distinct company and event: no existing library entry covers Turno or its parent Blubble.
What can be applied
When credit and resale fear block a product, bundling financing with a value guarantee can be the wedge — but the model is capital-hungry and scales on repeated small rounds.
Aftermath
As of December 26, 2025, Turno was raising the ₹50.01 Cr pre-Series B disclosed in a Registrar of Companies filing, with post-round stakes of 19.49% for Stellaris, 8.63% for B Capital, 7.03% for BII and 6.79% for Quona Accion Inclusion Fund. The company said the funds would support growth, operational needs and general corporate purposes, and it continued to face competition from Altigreen, Omega Seiki, Kinetic Green and Euler Motors in India's commercial-EV market.
Sources
- Commercial EV Financing Startup Turno Pockets $6 Mn From BII, Stellaris, Others
- EV Marketplace Turno Secures INR 50 Cr from Stellaris and Others
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