River Mobility on expansion mode; aims to open 100 stores by March 2026

Chennai: A top executive stated that River Mobility Pvt Ltd, an electric vehicle startup based in Bengaluru and supported by key investors like Yamaha Motor Corp and Mitsui & Company Ltd, plans to establish 100 showrooms by March 2026.

The organization launched its initial Chennai store as part of its expansion strategy and aims to have 15 additional stores by November, with a total of 50 stores by March 2025, according to CEO and Co-Founder Aravind Mani. During the briefing, Mani mentioned that his company started operating in March 2021 and began selling the "Indie" line of scooters in October 2023, with approximately 1,500 units already sold. He mentioned that approximately 400 vehicles were sold by us last month.

We employ approximately 750 staff members. We have collected approximately Rs 550 crore up to now, with the majority of investors being from international arenas. One of the most notable investors is Yamaha from Japan, who spearheaded the recent fundraising round. He mentioned that we also have investments from Toyota Ventures and Mitsui.

The company has a research and development center in White Field, Bengaluru and approximately 400 engineers at the company's assembly plant in Hosekote on the outskirts of Bengaluru. He clarified that the company has a total of three stores, with two located in Bengaluru and one in Hyderabad. He mentioned that the Chennai branch is the fourth store and the second one located outside Karnataka.

He stated that by November, there will be 15 stores, by March 2025 there will be 50 stores, and by March 2026 there will be a total of 100 stores as part of the network expansion plans. The business sells a single product called "Indie" at a price of Rs 1.47 lakh in Chennai. Mani announced that the company would introduce an additional item to its collection, with plans for it to be revealed in early 2026. He stated that the company manufactures battery packs at the production site, which has the capability of producing approximately 100,000 units. He stated that approximately 9,000 scooters of the model "Indie" are manufactured each month.

River Mobility brings in cells from China and Korea, making up a quarter of the total cost of the vehicle. The cost of cell phones is currently improving. It is getting better. He mentioned that India will see further improvements with the establishment of a cell manufacturing facility.