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Updated April 27, 2026
Konwert India Motors, a Coimbatore-based electric mobility company, has closed a pre-Series A investment led by The Chennai Angels (TCA) as it scales up its business of converting petrol, CNG, and LPG auto-rickshaws into electric vehicles. Existing investors Campus Angels Network, Keiretsu Forum Chennai, and Native Angel Network also participated in the round. The company plans to use the fresh capital to expand sales, add products, and enter new markets in India and overseas.
The funding is aimed at a problem that many Indian auto-rickshaw owners know well: electric three-wheelers are cleaner to run, but they are often too expensive to buy new. Konwert’s approach is simpler. Instead of replacing the vehicle, it replaces the combustion powertrain with an electric one. The company says the retrofit costs roughly half as much as a new electric auto-rickshaw, takes about 90 minutes using a patented process, and delivers up to 213 km of range on a 10 kWh battery.
Those economics matter to a typical driver. Konwert puts monthly fuel savings at roughly INR 12,000–15,000, or about one-quarter of the standard driver’s monthly income. For owner-operators who are already carrying the cost of an existing vehicle, that makes a retrofit a far more affordable entry point into electric mobility than buying a new EV.
The company has also built a support network around the conversion. Drivers can service converted vehicles at about 800 myTVS touchpoints across India, and financing is available through four lending partners. That removes some of the friction that has slowed EV adoption among smaller fleet operators and independent drivers.
Konwert was founded in Coimbatore in 2019 by Nickendra Manikandan. It currently runs in India and Sri Lanka, and it is also developing retrofit solutions for light commercial vehicles. That broader roadmap suggests the company is looking beyond three-wheelers to small delivery vans and other workhorse vehicles.
In a statement, Manikandan said the investment arrives at the right time. “Every auto-rickshaw we convert belongs to a driver who keeps their vehicle, cuts their fuel bill and takes home more each month,” he said. He added that the company is now in a scaling phase and plans to reach more cities, more vehicle types, and more markets.
Deepak Reddy, the lead investor at TCA, said electrification is central to India’s energy independence. He highlighted that Konwert’s product extends the life of auto-rickshaws already on the road while making them cleaner to operate. “Beyond the product, Konwert has built the processes and partnerships it needs to scale,” he said.
There is also a sustainability angle worth noting. Retrofitting an existing vehicle avoids the emissions and material use tied to manufacturing a completely new one. It also keeps an asset in service instead of scrapping it. As Indian cities focus on cleaner last-mile transport, this model could complement new EV sales rather than compete with them. For drivers, it may also mean less financial risk: the vehicle is already familiar, and the conversion can be financed in stages.
The Chennai Angels, founded in 2007, has invested more than INR 200 crore across over 100 startups in India. Its backing gives Konwert not just capital, but also a network of experienced founders and operators who have scaled businesses in India and beyond.
Konwert’s immediate priority is to turn that backing into broader reach. The company says it is already shipping conversions in India and Sri Lanka, and it is working on products that will serve the next wave of electrification in commercial transport. If the economics hold up, the retrofit route could become one of the fastest ways to clean up India’s auto-rickshaw fleet without waiting for drivers to buy new vehicles.
Disclosure: This article derives from a press release distributed by VMPL and has been edited for clarity.
