In 2018, Tesla shares were languishing at $22. Today, after focusing exclusively on its core EV technology alongside successfully scaling production, the stock has more than 10 bagged to $230.

It seems like Saietta Electric Drive (SED) has reached a similar inflection point, and is concentrating on its substantial near-term opportunities in lightweight EVs, a strategic shift that it's detailed in this morning’s 2023 results.

Within India, the company has already signed several flagship contracts with one of the country’s largest EV manufacturers across multiple platforms, estimated to deliver year-one revenues of £11.2m. It's also in negotiations with a second OEM, targeting sales of 800,000 units over 5 years for 2-wheeled vehicles.

Importantly, these blue chip clients validate Saietta’s credentials as a top-tier supplier in one of the world's largest markets, which suggests other major OEMs might also come knocking on its door soon.

So what's next? Well, given the unprecedented demand, the key task now is one of execution. On this front, high quality eDrives are already being produced in both India via its 49.5% JV with Padmini VNA Mechatronics Limited and in the UK, supported by resilient supply chain partners.

The last piece in the jigsaw is raising expansion capital to finance this exponential growth, which broker Cannaccord estimates at £9m-£15m . In fact, net cash (ex IFRS 16 leases) closed September at £0.4m against £7.2m in March 23, which Canaccord reckons will last until early 2024 after announcing the transfer of equipment into the Indian JV for £3m.

Elsewhere, Saietta is actively engaged in discussions with two potential partners to take-on the industrialisation and commercialisation of its marine division, Propel, which could see it receive ongoing revenue amd royalties from product sales, as well as technology transfer fees.

Ahead of the shares being lifted from suspension, executive chairman Tony Gott commented: “The EV market is transitioning to electric propulsion much faster than even we predicted, especially in Asia. This includes the Indian 2 wheel sector for Saietta Electric Drive's all-new eDrives based on our radial flux motors."

"The Board has taken the decision to seek step-change additional funding in part to underpin our working capital and generate the financial resources required to fully capitalize on the potential from the anticipated additional contracts within our sales pipeline, including the huge 2W sector in India. We are open on how best to achieve this and are commencing discussions with our key investors to get their advice, but we are determined to appropriately capitalize the business and maximise the ROI."

In terms of the numbers, Canaccord has temporarily withdrawn its forecasts and target price in light of the planned capital raise.