In what could be a cue for things finally coming back on track for electric vehicle (EV) startups, Charge+Zone, a two-year-old EV firm has raised USD 3 million in the pre-Series A round led by Venture Catalysts, a Mumbai-based incubator and accelerator.
Mumbai Angels, Keiretsu Forum, and Ramakrishnan Family Office also participated as lead investors in the recently concluded deal.
Set up in 2018, Charge+Zone aims to establish 100,000 charging stations for cars, buses, and even trucks, across important markets in the country. These charging points for EV drivers are available around the clock and can be remotely controlled through a smartphone app.
“The investment by Venture Catalysts and Mumbai Angels, as well as other family offices, represents the biggest vote of confidence at this growth-stage of our journey,” the company said in a statement.
It plans to leverage the fresh funds to scale its operations as it aims to have million unmanned charging points in the next 10 years in India.
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Kartikey Hariyani, founder & CEO, Charge+Zone said, the company has over 120 charging points across seven Indian cities and caters to more than 500 EV vehicles on daily basis. Some of its B2B clients include automotive companies like Ashok Leyland, BluSmart, EEE-Taxi, Shuttl, SmartE, and Bajaj Auto.
“With an extensive target market in each B2B (housing complex and corporate houses), B2B2C (two-, three-, and four-wheelers, as well as cab aggregators), and B2C (public charging stations) sectors, Charge+Zone’s potential and opportunity for growth is massive,” said Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, co-founder & president, Venture Catalysts.
In the last few months, an increasing number of EV startups have raised venture capital. For instance, Earth Energy received an undisclosed funding in its seed round in July, while Grinntech, a start-up specializing in lithium-ion batteries for EVs and energy storage systems secured USD 2 million a month later. In September, Cell Propulsion, which is developing solutions for large scale electrification of commercial vehicle fleets, raised an undisclosed pre-Series A round, and Etrio, an EV technology and product startup, landed USD 3 million in Series A funding.