Mumbai-based clean tech startup ION Energy has raised an undisclosed amount of angel funding from Haptik founders Aakrit Vaish and Swapan Rajdev, and the chairman of OMC Power and founder of Nippo Batteries Sushill Jiwarajka, said a company statement.
Other investors who participated in the round include executives from Times Internet, Dentsu Aegis, Salesforce, and Credit Suisse among others.
The company will use the funds for product development and mass manufacturing, the statement added.
Founded by former Haptik employee Akhil Aryan, ION Energy is creating product and distribution infrastructure for electric vehicles in India, which includes energy storage and a battery management system for the vehicles. The company did not disclose further details about its product as it is in stealth mode and is yet to file patents.
The startup claims that its product will enable electric vehicles to deliver a more lucrative price per kilometre, offer 5-6 times better acceleration, and provide faster battery charging time.
ION Energy is also part of a government committee headed by IIT Madras professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala that is pushing for the adoption of electric vehicles in India.
Recent deals in the clean energy startup space include Clean Max Enviro Energy Solutions Pvt Ltd, which in February this year received commitment worth $15 million (Rs 100 crore) from the International Finance Corporation, the private-sector investment arm of the World Bank.
In February, igrenEnergi Inc, a US-based solar energy startup incubated at IIT-Bombay, raised funding from Japan’s BroadBand Tower Inc and GiTV.
In March, global oil and gas major Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it is looking to make seed and venture capital investments in clean-tech, mobility and energy efficiency solutions startups in India. For this, it launching an accelerator programme in the country.
In December 2016, a group of billionaires, including Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson and Jack Ma came together to create a global investment fund worth $1 billion to back clean energy technology firms. The fund was called Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
