New Delhi, Feb. 3 -- Commercial electric mobility platform Drivn has secured financing commitments of up to $80 million (around Rs 723.3 crore) from Nomura to fund the initial rollout of electric buses and trucks across India's intercity and heavy transport segments.
The commitment from Nomura remains subject to documentation and final conditions, with the option for further upsizing over time. It includes both equity and debt commitment.
The capital will be deployed toward Drivn's first phase plan, which targets the deployment of nearly 1,000 electric buses and trucks by the fourth quarter of FY27. The deployments are expected to begin in February 2026.
Founded in 2025, Drivn operates a technology-led, asset-owning platform that acquires, owns, and leases electric buses and trucks under long-term contracts. The company focuses on inter-city transport and heavy trucking, segments that have seen limited penetration of electric vehicles due to high upfront costs and operational complexity.
The financing will support the build-out of what the company describes as an operational backbone for large-scale electric mobility, combining asset ownership with data-driven fleet management and long-term deployment planning.
Alongside the financing, Drivn has entered into initial pacts with bus and logistics operators, vehicle manufacturers, charging and energy service providers, and maintenance partners. These arrangements are intended to support coordinated vehicle deployment, charging infrastructure readiness, fleet uptime, and operating reliability.
"For electric mobility to work at scale in heavy transport, the solution has to go beyond vehicles. It also has to address capital intensity, operational risk, and long-term reliability," said Manav Bansal, co-founder and chief executive officer of Drivn.
"This financing allows us to build an integrated operating model, where our partners can run electric buses and trucks optimising their balance sheets, and where performance, uptime, and lifecycle outcomes are engineered into the system from day one," said Alpna Jain, co-founder and chief business officer.
Kushagra Pant, managing director and head of private credit for Asia ex-Japan at Nomura, said, "From an energy transition perspective, heavy commercial transport represents the most high-impact leverage point for decarbonization. Drivn stood out for us because it is not approaching this as a financing play alone, but as a long-term infrastructure platform that combines asset ownership, data, and operational discipline. We see strong potential in this model to scale India's electric corridors while generating durable, infrastructure-grade returns."
Drivn also said that its platform aligns with government initiatives such as FAME and PM eBus Sewa, and supports Scope 3 emissions reduction for sectors including logistics, cement, and steel, as India targets higher electric vehicle adoption by the end of the decade.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.