BENGALURU, India, Aug. 12, 2026 — Lane, a Bengaluru-based tech-enabled driving education and mobility platform, has raised ₹8.5 crore in a funding round led by Kae Capital, with participation from DeVC, Antler India, Panthera Peak and prominent angel investors.
The company said it will use the funds to expand its instructor network, accelerate development of its sensor-based driving behaviour technology and build services supporting customers through their first car purchase.
Lane is targeting what it describes as a longstanding gap in India’s driver education system, where many motorists learn informally through family or friends and obtaining a driving licence does not necessarily reflect real-world driving ability.
More than 1.7 lakh people die in road accidents in India each year, according to the company. India accounts for about 11% of global road deaths despite having roughly 1% of the world’s vehicles, it said.
Building a structured driver education model
Founded in 2025 by Samiksha Agarwal, Lane has delivered more than 30,000 hours of driving instruction to over 3,100 learners during its first 18 months, according to the company.
Nearly 70% of its customers already held a driving licence when they enrolled, highlighting the gap Lane sees between obtaining a licence and developing practical driving skills.
The company said its training methodology was developed through more than 400 hours of pilot classes with input from automobile researchers. Its instructors are assessed across 15 driving parameters, including simulated lessons, before joining the platform.
Qualified instructors can earn between ₹80,000 and ₹90,000 a month, according to Lane, while operating within micro-markets close to their homes.
“Every driving school in India chases the same thing: the licence. We’re after something harder and far more valuable — a confident, competent driver,” Agarwal said.
From driving lessons to car ownership
Lane sees driving education as the starting point for a broader mobility platform.
The company has begun offering services including car purchases and RTO-related assistance to its learners. Nearly 60% of customers have expressed an intention to purchase their first car, it said.
Lane’s strategy is to build a longer-term relationship with customers rather than depend primarily on repeat driving-course enrolments.
“We’re not in the business of repeat enrollments. We’re in the business of building trust that lasts well beyond the last driving class,” Agarwal said.
Lane targets driver intelligence
Beyond driving education and mobility services, Lane plans to develop an AI-powered system focused on driver intelligence.
The company is building a sensor-based system designed to capture driving behaviour during training sessions and create a driver profile for each learner.
Lane said such data could eventually have applications across the automotive ecosystem.
For insurers, behavioural data could potentially support risk assessment based on actual driving patterns rather than static demographic categories. Automakers could use comparable real-world information to understand vehicle performance, while policymakers could gain additional data on driving behaviour across India’s large licensed-driver population.
Investors back broader mobility opportunity
Sunita Viswanathan, Partner at Kae Capital, said the investment was driven not only by the size of the driving education market but also by its position at the beginning of a consumer’s broader relationship with vehicle ownership.
“What convinced us wasn’t just the size of the category, but where it sits in a person’s life,” Viswanathan said. “The moment you learn to drive is the moment you start thinking about owning, insuring, and building a life around a car.”
Expansion plans
Lane said the ₹8.5 crore funding will be allocated across three areas.
Geographic expansion: The company plans to scale its instructor network across Bengaluru and expand into other Tier 1 cities.
Sensor technology: Lane will accelerate development of its proprietary driving-behaviour system.
Car ownership: The company will build services designed to support customers through their first vehicle purchase.
The company said its longer-term objective is to combine structured driver education, mobility services and driver intelligence into a single ecosystem.
Lane is headquartered in Bengaluru and was founded by Samiksha Agarwal in 2025.
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Ruchi Kumar is the associate editor at Entrepreneur News Network and TVW News India, where she leads editorial strategy, brand storytelling, and startup ecosystem coverage. With a strong focus on innovation, business, and marketing insights, he curates impactful narratives that spotlight India’s evolving entrepreneurial landscape. She has written extensively on fintech, AI and emerging startups.