SUMMARY
Intellicar Telematics' parent entity Fabric IoT has raised $13.5 Mn (about INR 115 Cr) in its Series A funding round from American asset manager Nuveen
This marks the first fundraise for Fabric IoT, which was set up by Intellicar founders in 2022
Realising the large market opportunity that the ongoing EV disruption would provide, the cofounders of Intellicar reacquired Intellicar from TVS for INR 45 Cr, three times of the INR 15 Cr sell off in 2020
Deeptech startup Intellicar Telematics’ parent entity Fabric IoT has raised $13.5 Mn (about INR 115 Cr) in its Series A funding round from American asset manager Nuveen. In a statement, the EV fleet IoT solutions provider said that the fresh round of funding will enable it to scale its data and energy solutions.
This marks the first fundraise for Fabric IoT, which was set up by Intellicar founders Karan Makhija, Sidharth Middela and Shunmuga Krishnan in 2022. Interestingly, the trio founded Intellicar in 2015.
Five years into its operations, Intellicar was acquired by TVS Motor for INR 15 Cr in 2020. While working under the TVS umbrella, the founders decided to pivot the startup’s internal combustion engine vehicles and shared mobility-focussed fleet management platform to EVs.
Till then, Intellicar provided advanced fleet management solutions through an integrated platform powered by IoT technology. Its platform included features like fuel monitoring, keyless access control, telematics, fleet management, among others.
What Prompted The Reacquisition Of Intellicar From TVS
Fabric IoT CEO Makhija told Inc42 that the cofounders realised around 2022 the large market opportunity that the ongoing EV disruption would provide in the Indian market.
Following this, Makhija, Middela and Krishnan reacquired Intellicar from TVS in the same year for INR 45 Cr.
They housed Intellicare under their newly incorporated entity, Fabric IoT. Makhija said the idea behind the reacquisition was to start fresh with a focus on EVs.
“When the acquisition materialised, Intellicar was primarily focussed on ICE vehicles and shared mobility. But then during the pandemic, we realised that the shared mobility space would see a rough ride moving ahead. Thus, we wanted to pivot to EV and build a full stack of data and energy management solutions,” he said.
Intellicar’s turnover in FY22 stood at INR 17.06 Cr, with a profit after tax (PAT) of INR 59 Lakh. While selling the business, TVS CEO Rajesh Narasimhan said that the divestmentwas a part of the automotive giant’s value creation initiatives related to the startups it acquired for its digital portfolio.
“Working together with the founders of each startup, we are laser focused on supporting them to execute on their value creation plan (VCP) and then unlocking the value created at the most appropriate time,” Narasimhan said in the 2022 statement.
Makhija claimed that Intellicar has been able to grow its top line by 2X every fiscal year since its reacquisition. He added that its operating revenue for FY25 would be around INR 85 to INR 90 Cr.
So, How Is Fabric IoT Different From Intellicar?
Since its inception in 2022, Fabric IoT has been working on scaling its in-house brand Intelliware’s SaaS capabilities to cater exclusively to EV fleet operators. However, its decision to add hardware IoT devices to its software capabilities turned out to be a “game changer”.
“Under Fabric, the real game changer for Intellicar was when we coupled our software solutions with hardware IoT devices to build full-stack solutions for EVs. We began deploying our hardware solutions in 2022, and now are adding 20,000 new solutions every month,” Makhija said.
As part of its offerings, the startup provides sensors which are attached to EV batteries, charging infrastructure, and related equipment. Using this, Intellicar provides insights for maintenance and improving efficiency.
The startup claims that it uses data and energy requirements of vehicles and combines it with AI to provide insights on performance of vehicles to increase their longevity.
With over 3 Lakh connected EV assets, Fabric IoT claims to currently process 2.4 Tn data points per month. It counts OEMs like Greaves Electric Mobility and Bounce Infinity, battery swapping players like BatterySmart and Charge Up, and fleet operators like Shoffr and Zypp Electric among its clients.
The State Of Indian EV Ecosystem
The funding round comes at a time when the Indian EV ecosystem is going through a period of turmoil. The corporate governance lapses at Gensol and the subsequent suspension of services by its related EV ride-hailing entity BluSmart has come as a big blow.
Meanwhile, Ola Electric, one of the leading players in the Indian two-wheeler EV market, continues to reel under heavy regulatory scrutiny and customer complaints.
Besides, the funding for Indian EV startups has also seen a decline in recent times. As per Inc42’s ‘India’s Electric Vehicle Startup Report 2025‘, Indian EV ecosystem players managed to raise $624 Mn across 43 deals, down 31% from 2024. This marked the second consecutive year of decline in investment trends in the ecosystem.
Speaking to Inc42 about the decline in investment trends in February, Auxano Capital cofounder Brijesh Damodaran said that high production costs, supply chain disruptions, and lack of profitability or a clear path to profitability has resulted in investors examining EV deals more cautiously.
However, Fabric IoT’s Makhija believes that the Indian EV market is still at a nascent stage and this provides a big opportunity.
“Considering that the EV ecosystem in India is still at a fairly nascent stage, we are going to see companies going through their share of troubles. But the scale and expansion of EV adoption in India is a statement on how differentiated products can make a difference in disrupting the market. I believe that the Indian EV future continues to grow strongly,” he said.
Currently valued at $54 Bn, the Indian EV market is poised to grow 2.4X to reach a size of about $132 Bn by 2030.
[Edited by: Vinaykumar Rai]
