Magenta Mobility is a lot like BluSmart, but its new CEO wants to make sure their fates are different

In January 2020, Jeff Bezos climbed aboard an electric cargo three-wheeler in India. The world’s richest man, perched on a squat three-wheeler built for hauling boxes through narrow lanes, looked faintly absurd. But the signal was serious. Amazon pledged to put 10,000 electric vehicles on Indian roads by 2025, and an entire industry leaned forward.

Among those watching closely were Maxson Lewis and Darryl Dias, cofounders of a small startup called Magenta Mobility. At the time, Magenta was in the charging business, a lonely trade in a country with barely any EVs on its roads. The company had even partnered with Tesla during the carmaker’s early attempts to enter India, piloting a supercharger in Pune, according to people aware of the matter. But charging stations without cars to charge made for a grim spreadsheet.

Bezos handed them a reason to pivot. If Amazon and its rivals were going to electrify their supply chains, someone would need to run the fleets. Lewis and Dias pivoted, building an all-electric cargo logistics operation aimed squarely at ecommerce fulfilment.