Electric motorcycle company Tork Motorcycles raises angel funding from Ola founders, among others

Tork Motorcycles, the company claiming to develop India’s first electric motorcycle, has raised angel funding from a host of marquee investors including Ola founders Bhavish Agarwal, Ankit Bhati and a group of angels led by Harpreet Grover, CoCubes Co-Founder & CEO. Tork Motorcycles says it is focusing its efforts on creating practical electric mobility solutions for India. The start-up is in the closing stages of the prototyping and certification procedures of the electric motorcycle. Named T6X, the motorcycle is being developed by the company as a serious electric option to petrol-engine motorcycles. Tork was founded by Kapil Shelke, a mechanical engineer with a passion for racing. Kapil has built 5 motorcycle prototypes at Tork Motors before. The team has strengths in transportation design, engineering and industrial design, automotive design, automotive electronics and embedded systems. Kapil Shelke, Founder, Tork Motorcycles, said, “We are building India’s first electric motorcycle and are targeting its launch by this year. The motorcycle will solve the rider’s pain points with several value added features like GPS, storage, cloud connectivity and phone charging making it also a first smart motorcycle in India” Harpreet Grover, Co-founder and CEO, Cocubes said, “Electric vehicles are the future. Drop in battery prices, rising sensitivity around emissions and government’s focus on the sector will fuel demand in India. Kapil and the team at Tork Motors have a fabulous 7 year track record in this segment including podium finish at the Mecca of Electric Racing – Isle of Man. They are using that experience to build a connected motorcycle for the everyday user.” The company began its foray into electric motorcycles in 2009, when its motorcycle won a place on the podium at the Electric TT race at the Isle of Man. Since then, it has designed, developed and produced five electric motorcycles, applying its learning from motorsport into practical and reliable electric mobility solutions. T6X will be the first electric motorcycle designed for the market. It will have IP over Battery management system, control systems, motor tuning, drive train and overall product integration. The motorcycle will enable significant reduction in overall cost of operation, says the company. Tork adds that the demand for electric two wheelers is expected to be around 1.3 million by 2020-21.