Lithium Urban acquires SmartCommute

Bangalore-headquartered Lithium Urban Technologies (Lithium Urban), a leading corporate sustainable mobility solutions provider has acquired SmartCommute, an end-to-end Employee Transport Services SaaS platform. With this move, Lithium Urban will now evolve into a full-stack transportation solutions provider across form factors.

SmartCommute was founded in 2014 with the purpose of simplifying employee transportation services for corporates across the country. The SaaS-based platform has been built to create value for every touchpoint of a corporate’s employee transportation needs; from automated rostering, back-to-back cab routing, trip allocations, real-time tracking a monitoring, risk management, personal safety management, automated billing and data analytics. With the seamless integration of this platform, Lithium Urban will now be equipped to expand further into the potential rich transportation segments including freight and rapid bus transit among others. Furthermore, the company will also cater to both electric and non-electric vehicles, making it a one-stop-solution for smart transportation services across different form factors for its client portfolio.

Commenting on the acquisition, Sanjay Krishnan, founder, Lithium Urban Technologies said, “We are excited to welcome this stellar team at SmartCommute to become a part of the Lithium family and work towards the cause of providing a seamless commuting experience for our customers. SmartCommute comes with a demonstrated expertise in high-end tech-enabled solutions for smart rostering and AI-enabled routing that can considerably optimise operations and costs for clients. With this acquisition, we aim to expand our presence in the larger transportation and mobility ecosystem and provide full-stack services, going beyond sustainable corporate mobility solutions. Moreover, we are aiming to help clients seamlessly transition from ICE to electric vehicles given the tight integration that this platform will provide, with EVs & charging station telematics, and scheduling algorithms. We see this development as a validation to our commitment to our vision of transforming the mobility space in India.”

The company says in the pre-COVID world, around 30,000 employees in over 3,000 vehicles, across Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, New Delhi and Hyderabad were commuting on a daily basis on the SmartCommute platform. The company’s client portfolio included clients including Capgemini, L&T Infotech, KPIT and TCS to name a few.

Ajit Patil, co-founder, SmartCommute said: “SmartCommute has been a leading player in providing end-to-end employee transportation solutions. Our cutting edge technology platform enables substantial cost efficiencies, while enhancing employee safety and convenience. Employee transportation is a multi-billion dollar market in India and Lithium powered with SmartCommute technology will be in a formidable position to become a leader in this market.”