TVS Motor Co invests in Narain Karthikeyan’s start-up ‘DriveX’

TVS Motor Company, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of two- and three-wheelers, today announced its investment in Narain Karthikeyan’s start-up ‘DriveX’ (NKars Mobility Millennial Solutions Pvt Ltd), a pre-owned two-wheeler platform.

In a statement, TVS Motor said it “sees a strong potential in the pre-owned two-wheeler market, which is witnessing a structural shift from the unorganised to the organised sector. The pre-owned two-wheeler market is growing rapidly and has garnered high levels of investor and customer interest in recent years, driven by digitization and emergence of start-ups. This investment in DriveX is aimed at enabling innovative solutions to lead this transformation.”

DriveX: a fast-expanding digital-first business
Founded by India’s first Formula 1 racing driver Narain Karthikeyan, DriveX is a fully integrated model present across the pre-owned two-wheeler vehicle value chain. This includes all core areas including procurement, refurbishment, and retailing of multi-brand pre-owned two-wheelers. Incorporated in April 2020, DriveX started off as a two-wheeler subscription platform, providing affordable and flexible mobility solutions and has expanded to five cities in a short span of time.

According to Narain Karthikeyan, founder and CEO of DriveX said, “The pre-owned two-wheeler vehicle market is changing rapidly today. DriveX is a digital-first business, serving all brands with unique analytics-led capabilities across the value chains. We have also been successful at launching new business models, including the subscription mode in the pre-owned two-wheeler segment. In the coming years, DriveX will aim to strengthen its presence across India, followed by other geographies in due course. With this investment from TVS Motor Company, we are confident of expanding the DriveX vision, and delivering a pre-owned two-wheeler business that exceeds customer expectations.”

Announcing the investment, Sudarshan Venu, managing director, TVS Motor Company, said, “The pre-owned two-wheeler market is largely unorganised today. It is delightful to see what DriveX has been able to create and deliver in short time. Narain and his team have built a unique platform that can scale up quickly. DriveX has a vision to bring a change in this segment by building trust, assurance, and transparency through end-to-end, high-quality products and customer experience through innovative solutions. We are confident of DriveX ability to deliver on this vision.”

DriveX is engaged in leasing two-wheeler motorcycles and scooters and also in selling, trading, and distributing pre-owned two-wheeler motorcycles and scooters. The digital platform provides two-wheelers to customers on a subscription model for a flexible tenure and on a purchase model, along with certain ancillary services.

Lead visual only for representational purpose