Exclusive: Revamp Moto On Winning Shark Tank Season 1 & More

We caught up with Shark Tank fame Revamp Moto’s co-founder and CEO Pritesh Mahajan, and he revealed important details about its upcoming electric moped, the Revamp RM Mitra. Apart from that, Pritesh also shed light on their Shark Tank outing, and his opinions on FAME II Subsidy. Here are the highlights:

How Shark Tank debut helped Revamp Moto:

“Most of the people are not aware actually, but on shark tank, we not only got two sharks that were on camera but off camera we got two more sharks. Basically on camera we got Aman (Gupta, boAT co-founder) and Anupam (Mittal, founder of Shaadi.com), and off camera we got Ashneer (Grover, former Shark Tank judge) and Peyush (Bansal, founder of Lenskart).”  said Pritesh.

He continued, “I believe that we are one of the largest investments (raised) in Shark Tank India.” Pritesh also mentioned that Revamp raised around Rs 2 crores from the four sharks, and was one of the top 3 pitches on Shark Tank India. 

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Moreover, the Shark Tank fame also has helped in building the credibility for Revamp Moto, especially when dealing with B2B clients. “We actually believe in the fact that whenever we are talking to any client, we don’t ask them - aapko kitna gaadi chahiye. We ask them - aapko yeh gaadi kyu chahiye” said Pritesh

He further explains, “If we don’t understand their (client’s) problem statement itself, we can’t even tell them if this product will help them or not. We understand their use case, and that’s where we suggest them which attachment to go for, and even if there’s no attachment available, we don’t mind customising those attachments as per their specifications. So that is how Shark Tank has helped us.”

It’s also important to note that all the attachments and accessories have been designed and developed in-house by Revamp Moto. 

Pritesh’s thoughts on what will happen post FAME 2 subsidy discontinuation in March 2024:

Pritesh said, “I’ll be honest Praveen, this is my personal opinion, I believe if the FAME II subsidy abruptly stops by March 2024, that would actually create a ripple effect and that would actually slow down the EV adoption. Why I’m saying this is that it’s general human behaviour and mentality.” 

He continued, “If a couple of people are getting some incentive, and after one specific point of time, if you remove the entire incentive, and if you ask someone to buy an un-incentivised product, there’ll definitely be some resistance. 

“In this case I believe the better plan would be to reduce the FAME 2 subsidy gradually instead of drastically stopping it.” opined Pritesh. He says if the subsidy right now is Rs 15,000 per kWh, and if by 2024 it’s reduced to 50 percent, then the subsidy cost and contribution will go down, and customers will have to pay extra but it will not affect the entire EV industry. He also clarifies that while Revamp works on its business models, it has never relied on government subsidy. Pritesh also adds that while designing the vehicle as well as the business model the company ensures that even if the government subsidy goes away, it will not have a big impact on the customers. 

Pritesh’s opinion on FAME 2 subsidy makes sense as gradually reducing it will cushion the impact, and will give prospective customers more time to get used to the consequent increase in prices. Moreover, with the deadline closing in next year, it will also push manufacturers to build cost-effective EVs right from the ground-up in the future.