Bengaluru-headquartered battery-tech startup Log 9 Materials has raised $8.5 million (Rs 63 crore) in its ongoing Series A+ funding round led by Amara Raja Batteries.
Amara Raja invested $5 million and others $3.5 million.
The round saw existing investors Exfinity Ventures and Sequoia Capital’s Surge, alongside Rajesh Yabaji and Chanakya Hridaya, co-founders of Blackbuck. Others include Rajesh Ramaiah, partner at PremjiInvest; Desikan Sundarajan, MD, equinor; and Faiz Mayalakkara of Emirates Investment Authority AC Ventures (SEA Frontier Fund LLP).
Amara Raja is expected to be the primary partner for scaling battery manufacturing and fuel cell technologies.
“In the upcoming months of 2021, we at Log 9 are looking to take our breakthrough rapid charging battery-tech to end-users at scale; on the other hand, the development and advances of our aluminum fuel cells will continue in parallel -- including pilots and OEM-level vehicular integrations,” said Akshay Singhal, founder and CEO of Log 9.
The startup said it has developed rapid charging battery packs aimed at 2/3-wheeler EV adoption, whereas aluminum fuel cell technology is targeted towards long-haul mobility.
Log 9 said it has started commercial pilots with Shadowfox, Amazon, Delhivery, and Vogo among others.
The firm was founded in 2015 by Akshay Singhal, Kartik Hajela, and Pankaj Sharma.
Amara Raja is one of the largest battery manufacturers in India. The company is one of the major players in both consumer and B2B segments and supplies batteries to Ashok Leyland, Ford India, Honda, Hyundai, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, and Tata Motors.