With the company’s unique routing system and SLA management capabilities, Lithium will become a full-stack transportation solutions provider across different form factors
Bangalore, NFAPost: Lithium Urban Technologies, a leading corporate sustainable mobility solutions provider, announced the 100% acquisition of SmartCommute, an end-to-end Employee Transport Services SaaS platform.
With this move, Lithium will now evolve into a full-stack transportation solutions provider across form factors, providing the required mettle to lead India’s progress in the smart mobility space.
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 in such a way that it creates value for every touchpoint of a corporate’s employee transportation needs; from automated rostering, to back-to-back cab routing, trip allocations, real-time tracking & monitoring, risk management, personal safety management, automated billing and data analytics.
With the seamless integration of this platform, Lithium will now be equipped to expand further into the potential rich transportation segments including freight and rapid bus transit among others. Further, Lithium 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, Lithium Urban Technologies Founder Sanjay Krishnan said the company is 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 optimize 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,” said Founder Sanjay Krishnan.
Moreover, Sanjay Krishnan said Lithium is 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,” added Sanjay Krishnan.
In the pre-Covid world, around 30,000 employees in over 3000 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 marquee clients including Capgemini, L&T Infotech, KPIT and TCS to name a few.
SmartCommute Cofounder Ajit Patil 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”, said Ajit Patil.
Lithium Urban Technologies owns the largest fleet of EVs in the world outside of China. It is India’s first zero emission service, with its own fleets of Electric Vehicles (EVs) and associated charging infrastructure, backed by a strong technology platform that involves telematics, fleet management systems, scheduling, rostering and analytics-based optimisation; and trained and certified drivers.
Lithium also owns and operates India’s largest EV charging network spread across 7 cities in India. As a socially conscious company, Lithium is the only transportation company to have received the ISO 26000 guidance on social responsibility.
Having covered almost 100 million kilometres to date it has abated about 20,000 MT of Co2e. Lithium’s institutional investors include LGT Capital and International Finance Corp (a World Bank Group Co). Lithium is a recipient of several national and global awards including the prestigious Financial Times /IFC Transformational Awards 2019 in London.
