How Euler Motors Zoomed In On Electric Cargo, Laid Out Its Growth Blueprint

SUMMARY

• EV commercial vehicle startup Euler Motors validated demand first with logistics fleets before becoming a commercial EV manufacturer focussed on cargo mobility.
• The startup scaled through premium electric cargo vehicles, in-house battery tech, and charging infrastructure, expanding from 3-wheelers to 4-wheelers.
• Backed by Hero MotoCorp, Euler is now chasing profitability while competing against legacy OEMs in India’s fast-growing commercial EV market.

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Some Indian cities are often found more choking than any other place in the world. The air quality breaches the acceptable limits of hazardous matters too frequently.

What leaves large swathes of urban India gasping for breath? There are multiple factors, but commercial vehicles are perhaps the most persistent contributors to the high levels of particulate matter in the air. Policy responses like Delhi’s odd-even scheme or the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) have been quick but secured very little success. The suffering of urbanites refused to relent. 

For Saurav Kumar, this wasn’t an abstract problem. It gave the ignition to the making of Euler Motors with the aim of electrifying India’s commercial mobility backbone. 

Founded in 2018, Euler Motors has so far raised over $229 Mn and carved out a meaningful position in India’s electric cargo vehicle segment. What began as a bet on three-wheeler cargo EVs, has expanded into four-wheeler light commercial vehicles, with the company claiming a 22% market share in its category. It is also projecting a sharp financial upswing, with revenues expected to double year-on-year to approximately ₹402 Cr by FY26. 

Yet, beneath this growth narrative lies a journey shaped less by leaner execution and more by iterative learning, capital intensity, and strategic recalibration. 

Curiosity Converts To A Conviction

Kumar’s path to entrepreneurship did not begin with mobility. Raised in a village in Bihar and introduced to formal schooling only in Class 6 after moving to Delhi, his early struggle found an unlikely outlet in robotics. That exposure created a lasting fascination with the intersection of software and hardware, which eventually led him to sturdy computer science at Cornell University and later work at Yahoo.

His first entrepreneurial venture, Cube26, operated at the intersection of software customisation and OEM partnerships. After six years, the company hit a ceiling, culminating in its acquisition by Paytm in 2018. While the exit provided financial comfort, it also triggered a deeper question on the impact. 

Kumar recalls a moment of introspection at Varanasi ghat, where the idea of tackling India’s pollution problem took shape. Narrowing down from broader climate concerns, he zeroed in specifically on commercial vehicles, arguably the most visible and intensive contributors to urban emissions. 

A small group of former Cube26 colleagues joined in to roll out Euler Motors. From the outset, the company prioritised building core technological capabilities, setting up in-house R&D spanning battery systems, mechanical engineering and electronics. 

Assessing Demand Before Building Supply

Unlike many EV startups that began with product-first ambitions, Euler initially approached the market from a services lens. In its earliest phase, the company purchased and modified a handful of electric three-wheelers and deployed them within logistics networks. This allowed the team to test real-world performance, understand payload constraints, and crucially, map customer willingness to pay. 

Blinkit (then Grofers) emerged as its first customer, followed by BigBasket, Flipkart and Udaan. Over an eight-month pilot, Euler gathered granular insights into route density, battery degradation, charging infrastructure and operating economics. 

This phase coincided with the company’s early expansion efforts in 2019, when it scaled its fleet to over 170 vehicles and began building its charging infrastructure and showroom presence. These moves signalled a transition from experimentation to early operational scale. 

But, by then, it had received orders for 20 vehicles from BigBasket. While modest in size, it validated the demand for electric cargo solutions and gave Euler the confidence to shift from operating vehicles to manufacturing them. “I still vividly remember the day when we managed to onboard BigBasket. We knew there is a business here that can be scalable,” Kumar recalled.

By 2020, the company had deployed over 200 vehicles and taken a decisive step towards vertical integration by beginning work on its own liquid-cooled battery systems. At a time when most EV players relied heavily on third party battery suppliers, this move reflected a long term strategic bet: control the most critical component to control performance and margins. 

Building A Product To Build A Category

Euler’s transition into a full-fledged OEM crystallised in 2021. Backed by a $5.6 Mn Series A round, led byInventus Capital, Jetty Ventures and ADV Ventures, the startup launched its flagship electric cargo vehicle, HiLoad EV. 

Positioned as a high-payload, long-range solution, the vehicle offered a certified range of over 150 km and a payload capacity of 768 kg, a metric that directly addressed the operational needs of last-mile logistics players. But more importantly, the launch marked Euler’s entry into a category it aimed to define, rather than just participate in. 

The company completed its product strategy with ecosystem investments, including the deployment of over 200 charging points across Delhi NCR. It also introduced fast-charging capabilities tailored for commercial use cases, reducing downtime and improving fleet utilisation. 

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