Bengaluru-based nanotechnology startup Log 9 Materials Scientific Pvt. Ltd said on Monday that it has raised $3.5 million (Rs 31.32 crore) in it Series A funding round from Sequoia India's scale up program Surge and Exfinity Venture Partners.
Akshay Singhal, founder and chief executive officer at Log 9, said the company will use the funds for the development and deployment of its flagship project -- aluminium-air fuel cells, which is currently in the optimization stage.
The company was looking to accelerate the development of products viable for both electric vehicles (EVs) and stationary applications, he said. “The ultimate objective is to transition towards an aluminium-based cleaner energy economy,” Singhal added.
Separately, Sequoia Capital India technology director Anadamoy Roychowdhary said the firm was confident in its investment because of Log 9’s technological infrastructure.
Shailesh Ghorpade, managing partner at Exfinity, said the Log 9 will accelerate the country’s transition to the EV world considering that government also has the ambition to introduce EV as the mainstream mobility solution.
Log 9 Materials was incubated at the TIDES Incubation Centre of IIT Roorkee in November 2015. The company is focusing on developing graphene nanotechnology products in which it holds 16 patents.
Earlier in May 2017, the startup raised an undisclosed amount in pre-Series A funding from Delhi-based venture capital firm GEMs.
The following year in July, it raised Rs 3 crore ($436,000) in an extended pre-Series A round from a clutch of investors that include Metaform Ventures.
In September this year, company subsidiary Log 9 Spill Containment Pvt. Ltd raised Rs 4 crore (around $563,940) from angel investors.
Deals in the clean-tech segment
There has been steady activity in the clean-technology segment, as companies and firms seek to capitalise on the growing need for eco-friendly solutions in the wake of climate change.
Earlier this month, Singapore-based waste management company Blue Planet Environmental Solutions Pte. Ltd acquired Pune-based waste processing firm Xeon Waste Managers LLP.
Last year, Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma and venture capitalist Shailesh Vickram Singh launched a $150 million environmental protection vehicle called Massive Fund.
Subsequently, the Indian government also approved a $1.4-billion programme, called Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME), to subsidise sales of electric and hybrid vehicles as it looks to control pollution and reduce dependency on fossil fuels.
