The tipping point for large-scale EV adoption will be seen when individual driver owners start buying EVs on their own from OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers), whether it's being done through incentives from the government or through companies. EVIFY is a tech-enabled electric vehicle-based logistics company based out of Surat, Gujarat. EVIFY aims to lead and make India's D2C/FMCG/E-commerce last-mile delivery go electric. Analytics Insight has engaged in an exclusive interview with Devrishi Arora (Founder) and Pragya Mittal (Co-Founder) of Evify.

1. Kindly brief us about the company, its specialization, and the services that your company offers.

EVIFY is a tech-enabled electric vehicle-based logistics company based out of Surat, Gujarat. EVIFY aims to lead and make India's D2C/FMCG/E-commerce last-mile delivery go electric. The firm wants to improve the EV value chain with ethical practices focusing on equality and sustainability. With a focus on technology support for client partners and a conscious effort to go carbon negative, EVIFY aims to reimagine the EV logistics landscape in India. The firm is also inclined towards women's empowerment. The Co-Founder, Legal Consultant, Public Relations Consultant, and Social Media Manager of Evify are all women. EVIFY is soon going to onboard women riders for their delivery services.

2. Brief us about the proactive Founder/CEO of the company and his/her contributions to the company and the industry.

Devrishi Arora is the founder of the company and holds extensive knowledge and vast experience in the logistics industry. His family has been involved in the logistics business since the 1960s. Devrishi has himself been in the logistics sector for around 8 years. He holds two master's degrees, one in International Business & Emerging Markets and the other in Tech Entrepreneurship from The University of Edinburgh and University College London, respectively. Handling the operations, pursuing new clients, fleet R&D, and Industry networking are his main areas of expertise.

s Pragya Mittal the Co-Founder of the company, is a CA by qualification and has been very closely involved in her family business in the sustainable & renewable sector like green building materials, solar panels manufacturing & project execution, lithium batteries for EV and ESS applications for a decade now. Therefore working with EVIFY was aligned with their vision of developing a sustainable business portfolio. She handles the Financial and PR activities of the company. She is actively involved in bringing investors on board and planning for different forms of fundraising.

3. With what mission and objectives, the company was set up? In short, tell us about your journey since the inception of the company?

Evify is a Tech braced Logistics start-up with the mission to bring an unorganized and unsystematic Indian logistics sector on a digital transparent platform while being environmentally sustainable in ways of conducting operations.

Our vision is to become a one-stop – environment-friendly — end-to-end green logistics solutions provider — be it vehicles, charging stations, tech, or green warehousing.

We started with 2 EVs in Sept 2021, now we are on our way to crossing our 1st milestone of 100 EVs by May 2022. We have also achieved 1,25,000+ Green Kms and 30,000+ Green Deliveries till 31st March 2022.

4. Kindly mention some of the major challenges the company has faced till now. 

Some of the challenges have been getting safe and long-range electric vehicles for delivery purposes, financing the upfront capital expenditure, insufficient EV charging infrastructure in the city, educating and training the riders for efficient utilization of the application, and generating real-time information.

5. What is your biggest USP that differentiates the company from competitors?

EVIFY is a pure logistics company with a high-end integrated tech platform. We provide manpower solutions along with logistics. So, basically with deliveries, charging infrastructure, and green warehousing we would be the first green end-to-end green logistics service providers with a carbon-negative fleet. Practically, our approach in tier 2 and tier 3 cities for green logistics has negligible competition.

6. What are your growth plans for the next 12 months?

We have highly aspirational yet practical plans for the next 12 months. We are already working with reputed clients like BigBasket, Swiggy, and Baba Express Ecom. For the coming 12 months, we are very optimistic that we will easily cross the fleet size of 500 EVs and 500 EV charging points in the city of Surat & South Gujarat. In terms of clients, we hope to begin our operations with e-commerce giants like Amazon, Flipkart, etc. We also have plans to expand our services in the other tier 2, 3 cities such as Vadodara, Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Indore, and Pune in the coming 24 months where EVIFY can replicate its existing model. Along with the two-wheeler and three-wheeler fleet, we are looking forward to setting up charging infrastructure & green warehouses in every city we expand to give end-to-end green logistics solutions to our customers and the masses.

7. What is your Leadership Mantra?

Our leadership mantra is to focus on our people. For us, our drivers are our biggest assets and we ensure utmost safety and security for them physically as well as financially. To this effect, our tech and logistics arm focuses a lot on features that support our driver ecosystem.

8. Can you throw light on the latest employment trends in this sector?

By the end of 2022, the logistics sector is expected to create 3 million new jobs and the road freight industry is going to contribute to nearly 63% of these jobs. A significant part of India's economic growth is related to the expansion of the logistics sector and transportation marketplace. Few forces which have fueled the employment rate in this sector are e-commerce growth, digitization, and foreign direct investments in logistics services. The logistics sector is opening a range of new employment opportunities for both skilled and unskilled professionals, which includes delivery agents, warehouse managers, data analysts, and people with other specialized skills related to this segment.