Our investment
Description of the investment.
Description of the investment.
Our investment will support the electrification of Loadshare's two and three-wheeler logistics fleets. It will support smaller electric vehicle fleet owners and Loadshare's last mile logistics riders to access electric vehicles and overcome financing barriers. Through a data sharing agreement with local financiers, the investment aims to improve lending outcomes in the sector.
Impact information
Applies to investments made from 2019 onwards. The tabs in this section define what we expect to achieve through the investment, assessing the potential impact of the investment against six dimensions of impact. You can find more details on our methodology of assessing impact here.
Applies to investments made from 2019 onwards. The tabs in this section define what we expect to achieve through the investment, assessing the potential impact of the investment against six dimensions of impact. You can find more details on our methodology of assessing impact here.
What?
| Impact |
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Reducing emissions of e-commerce, hyperlocal delivery and ride-hailing firms in India by decarbonising their last-mile deliveries will contribute to our planet’s sustainability goals. |
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How?
| Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|
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Our investment will allow Loadshare to undertake a sale lease-back model with fleet operators, making asset-ownership of two and three-wheel electric vehicles affordable for small-scale fleet operators in tier-one and two cities. These operators would otherwise not receive affordable and commercially viable financing from financial institutions for buying electric vehicles. Due to the high upfront costs of electric vehicles and familiarity with internal combustion engine vehicles instead of electric vehicles, driver-owned models are not possible with electric vehicles. This creates a need to operationalise the model via fleet operators, wherein electric vehicles are rented out to drivers. |
Procuring electric vehicles will improve economic opportunities for low-income drivers thereby enhancing their economic opportunity. 60 per cent of the workers will be fresh recruits from rural areas. This implies that 60 per cent of all jobs will be new jobs. The remaining 40 per cent of jobs will be experienced electric vehicle drivers who don’t own an electric vehicle and rely on employment through employers such as Loadshare. |
Who?
| Stakeholder | Geography | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| Planet |
Six tier-one cities and seven tier-two cities in India |
According to research, top three e-commerce players in India (Flipkart, DHL/BlueDart, and Amazon) currently deliver over two billion parcels per year combined. This could grow to 17-25 billion parcels by 2030. Without any changes to their fleet, last mile deliveries of these three companies in India could account for an additional 17 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. Importantly, half of all carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions in e-commerce deliveries is attributed to the last mile, which is supported by companies such as Loadshare. |
| Low-income drivers |
Six tier-one cities and seven tier-two cities in India |
The majority of gig-economy jobs operate on a driver-owned vehicle model. This implies that most drivers have the financial ability to procure a vehicle on their own. However, Loadshare will operate on a driver-renting model, targeting drivers that lack the financial ability to access vehicles and are either jobless or have settled for occupations with sub-optimal pay. Over 50 per cent of drivers employed through the pilot are expected to live below $6.85/day (2017 PPP) |
How much?
| Scale | Depth/Duration |
|---|---|
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Our investment will enable Loadshare to buy 4,000 two-wheel and 420 three-wheel electric passenger and commercial vehicles (CEVs). |
We expect to abate:
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Contribution/additionality
| Contribution/additionality |
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Financing terms offered by commercial lenders such as financial institutions (banks, NBFCs) and venture debt funds are not favourable to make this commercially viable. Importantly, this holds true for all borrowers: Loadshare, fleet operators and retail borrowers. |
Grid score
| Grid Score
To help us direct our investments, we previously used a tool called the Development Impact Grid. It scored investments out of four, based on two factors: the difficulty of investing in a country and the propensity of the sector to generate employment. This tool was used for investments until the end of 2021. Since 2022 it has been replaced by the Impact Score. |
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10 |
Risk
Execution RiskThe electric vehicle (EV) market is changing rapidly. Advances in technology may render EVs or components including batteries obsolete within a relatively short period of time, particularly for commercial vehicles that observe faster wear and tear. In addition, data on battery life and range is still being gathered. This risk should be tolerated due to the overall nascency of the technology. |
Environmental and social information
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Environmental and social summary
A high-level description of the environmental and social aspects of the investment. This may include a summary of key environmental and social risks identified during environmental and social due diligence (ESDD); key elements of an environmental and social action plan (ESAP); or ways in which we plan to support the investee improve environmental and social standards, such as through their environmental and social management system (ESMS); as well as any other priority areas agreed with the investee.
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Environmental and social risk
A risk category rating, which indicates the level of environmental and social risk associated with an investment. For an explanation of the categorisations used, see here. We consistently provide an environmental and social risk category for all investments screened from 2023 onwards.
Environmental and social summary
For the Series C funding, BII along with the co-investment partner agreed on an ESAP with the investee, which included items related to ESMS implementation, job quality, contractor management and road safety. The existing ESMS at Loadshare will be expanded to integrate and monitor the vehicle selection, rider onboarding process, road safety and contractor compliance.
Environmental and social risk
Medium-Low
Reporting and Complaints Mechanism
The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism allows anyone outside BII to report alleged breaches of the business integrity or environmental and social provisions of BII’s Policy on Responsible Investing. This includes breaches made by BII, a BII investee, or a portfolio company of a fund in which BII has invested. The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism Rules are available here. Reports and complaints can be submitted by email to reportsandcomplaints@bii.co.uk or by mail. See more details on our Reporting and Complaints Mechanism here.
For any other general enquiries contact us at enquiries@bii.co.uk
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Key facts
- First published
:
When the investment was first published on the website database.
- December 2024
- Last updated
:
When the last quarterly update of the website database occurred.
- December 2024
- Project number
:
An identifier number shared by investments in the same project.
- D6499
- Status
:
The current status of the investment (green flag for active and red flag for exited).
- Active
- Region
:
The geographical region where the country is located. We currently invest in Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and the Caribbean. In 2023, BII’s investment mandate was extended allowing it to invest in regional funds linked to Ukraine, with the majority of activity expected to begin post-war. Investments outside these regions were made prior to 2012 under previous investment mandates.
- South Asia
- Country
:
The countries where the investment delivers impact. Where impact is delivered in multiple countries, this is indicated.
- India
- Sector
:
We prioritise those sectors that facilitate development and need our capital the most. Our priority sectors contribute towards many of the Sustainable Development Goals. They range from investing in the power infrastructure that will provide people with better access to electricity, to investing in financial institutions that direct capital to the individuals and businesses that need it the most.
- Technology and telecoms
- Sub sector
:
The sub-sector that the investment is made into; this provides a more granular level of detail than the ‘sector’ information
- Machinery
- Investment type :
- Debt
- Start date :
- August 2024
- Amount :
- $5m
- Currency of investment :
- INR
- Domicile
:
The company or investment fund’s place of incorporation.
- India
We provide capital in the following ways: directly – through direct equity, direct debt, guarantees and other non-intermediated financial instruments; and indirectly – principally through investment funds.
For direct investments and fund investments, this is the date BII committed capital to the investments. This is typically the date on which legal agreements are signed by all parties.
For the portfolio companies of our fund investments, this is the date (either the month or the quarter) on which the fund committed capital to the portfolio company.
For direct equity investments, this is the date at which British International Investment exited the investment.
For debt investments, this is the date at which the final debt repayment was made.
For funds, this is the date at which the fund was terminated.
For underlying fund investments, this is the date at which the fund manager exited the investment.
The total amount committed, per financial instrument, per investment, on the date BII becomes subject to a binding legal obligation to provide funding or assume a contingent liability. This information is provided in US dollars.
For direct investments, this is the amount that BII has committed to the business or project. For fund investments, this is the amount BII has committed to the fund.
The currency in which the investment was made.
- Climate finance
:
Indicates whether the investment is climate finance qualified or partially climate finance qualified and the type of climate finance (adaptation, mitigation or both). We define climate finance using the multilateral development bank (MDB) and the International Development Finance Club (IDFC) Common Principles climate finance methodology. See Common Principles for Climate Mitigation Finance Tracking and Common Principles for Climate Change Adaptation Finance Tracking. We provide the climate finance qualification and type for commitments from 2020 onwards, which is when we launched our Climate Change Strategy.
- Fully qualified
- Climate finance type
:
Mitigation: Indicates investments which, by avoiding or reducing GHG emissions or increasing GHG sequestration, contributes substantially to the stabilisation of GHG concentrations in the atmosphere – at a level which prevents dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system consistent with the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement
Adaptation: Indicates investments aimed at preventing or reducing the risks or vulnerabilities posed by climate change and increasing climate resilience. This includes both adapted activities and enabling activities to manage and reduce physical climate risks
Dual: Indicates investments directed towards activities contributing to both climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation and meeting the respective criteria for each category
The climate finance type of the investment is determined at time of commitment.
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- Mitigation
- First published
Related investments made by BII into this company:
| Investment name | Commitment | Region | Sector | Start date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investment 01 | $2m | South Asia | Technology and telecoms | March 2020 | Active |
| Investment 02 | $4.06m | South AsiaSouth Asia | Technology and telecoms | January 2022 | Active |
