Bengaluru’s Three Wheels United Enters Third Derivative’s Inaugural Cohort

A Bengaluru based, Three Wheels United (TWU) has announced their selection in the Third Derivative’s inaugural cohort of climate innovation startups, in a press release on 2nd December 2020.

TWU a tech-enabled financier of light electric vehicles is one of the 50 climate innovation startups, selected from more than 600 applicants across 60+ countries.

Founded in 2017, TWU provides loans for drivers to make a switch from conventional rickshaws to electric rickshaws. Out of the 12 Million auto-rickshaw drivers in India, 50 percent of the drivers rent their vehicle.

The founders, Cedrick Tandong, Kevin Wervenbos, and Apurv Mehra together came up with an interesting and novel objective to reduce air pollution and generate more income for auto-rickshaw drivers by helping them switch to electric auto-rickshaws. Helping the auto drivers for three years to shift from conventional auto rickshaws to EVs and positively impact the environment, TWU has been selected, competing with 50 startups in D3’s inaugural cohort of climate innovations.

Interestingly, the inaugural cohort is known as ‘Cohort 417’ named for the CO2 concentration of 417.1 ppm recorded in May 2020. The inaugural comprises, startups spanning across sectors such as electricity, transportation, buildings, industry, energy access, food and agriculture, and financial and business model innovation.

However, Three Wheels United has two other companion startups shortlisted from India. Speaking on the selection Cedrick Tandong, CEO and Co-Founder, Three Wheels United said, “We are excited to be a part of one of the largest climate innovation cohorts. At Three Wheels United, our overarching goal is to reduce the climate impact of the transportation sector by helping auto-rickshaw drivers seamlessly switch to cleaner mobility. This collaboration with Third Derivative will surely help us accelerate our efforts towards promoting sustainable last-mile connectivity.”

TWU has worked with over 30,000 drivers and financed 3000+ auto-rickshaws till now. Reducing 22,000 tonnes of CO2 emission, TWU has added an extra $20M in income for the drivers.