Zyp Technologies, which operates in the energy and electric motorcycle assembly space, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $1.2 million in a seed round that was led by Indus Valley Capital.

The startup’s assembly plant is based in Lahore where it has the capacity to produce 8,000 electric motorcycles a year. Its energy division, through which it provides battery-as-a-service (BaaS), is based in Islamabad.

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Through the two business lines – motorcycles and battery service – the startup says it wants to address the issues of high upfront cost, range anxiety, and lengthy charging times.

“Zyp achieves this through an indigenously-developed product portfolio that includes purpose-built electric motorcycles, innovative battery swap stations, proprietary and patent pending battery architecture, cloud software and mobile apps,” it said in a statement to Business Recorder.

“With climate change and rising fuel prices in Pakistan, the urgency to electrify transportation has never been greater. Zyp’s solutions enable motorcycle fleet operators to save up to 70% on fuel costs and eliminate air polluting emissions, making their operations environmentally sustainable and profitable.”

Aatif Awan, founding partner at Indus Valley Capital, said Zyp is building one of the most important products Pakistan needs to help solve the trade imbalance and high inflation.

Hassan Khan, co-founder and CEO of Zyp Technologies that was founded in September 2022, said the company started with an initial bootstrapped capital $66,000 and is utilising its seed round to fund the capital expenditure incurred in the assembly plant as well as for providing the battery solutions.

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“Electric batteries can be a painpoint for riders,” Khan told Business Recorder. “The battery as a service, which is offered at different tiers of subscription depending on the rider’s usage, helps solve this problem.”

Khan said replacing a battery with a charged one is equivalent to stopping for petrol at a fuel station.

The company, which is offering different variants of its motorcycles that range from between Rs150,000 to Rs450,000, said the solutions are as home-grown as they can be. The battery subscriptions can cost anywhere between Rs4,000-Rs24,000.

“Cells for the battery are imported along with the motorcycle’s motor. The design frame, all body parts, and software solutions – that enable you to track the motorcycle fleet and monitor progress – are homegrown.”

Khan said Pakistan deserves better, referring to the decades-old motorcycle designs ploughing on the roads.

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“The backing from Indus Valley Capital has been instrumental. It is enabling us to build the right localised solution for Pakistan. We know everyone is tired of the same old motorcycle designs and copycat approaches to EVs. Pakistan deserves better.”

The company, in its statement, added that its indigenously-produced charging station enables compatible motorcycles to be “refueled within 60 seconds”.

Zyp will install its first energy station on the premises of a major B2B customer, it added.

Startup funding

The development comes at a time when Pakistan, plagued with a persistent economic crisis, has also seen startup funding fall as high interest rates divert capital to less riskier assets.

The country’s startups saw the lowest level of funding in three years during the quarter ended June 2023. In the three-month period, startups in Pakistan attracted a meagre $5.2 million, a 95% year-on-year decline and 77.5% fall on a quarterly basis.