Lithium Urban Technologies Acquires SmartCommute

Lithium Urban Technologies has 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, the company said.

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, Sanjay Krishnan, Founder of Lithium said, “We are 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. Moreover, we are 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”, he added.

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 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, Co-Founder, SmartCommute, while speaking on the acquisition.