Cygni Energy has raised Rs 45 crore ($6.4 million) from early-stage venture capital firm Endiya Partners and private-sector lender IndusInd Bank, a top executive of the solar direct-current (DC) solutions company told VCCircle.
The fresh capital, a mix of equity and debt, will be used to expand capacity, strengthen research and development, and increase market reach.
The Hyderabad-based company raised Rs 30 crore ($4.3 million) as debt from IndusInd Bank and Rs 15 crore ($2.1 million) as Series A money from Endiya, Cygni founder and CEO Venkat Rajaraman told VCCircle.
“IIT-Madras has worked closely with Cygni to develop its inverter-less technology,” said Ashok Jhunjhunwala, professor at IIT-Madras. Cygni was incubated at IIT Madras Incubation Cell and IIT Madras’ Rural Technology Business Incubator.
Incorporated in 2014, the company is primarily engaged in providing solar direct-current (DC) and micro-grid solutions. In DC, the electric charge or current flows only in one direction. In alternating current (AC), electric charge changes direction periodically. The firm specialises in inverter-less technology and rooftop solar solutions.
The company’s total income increased more than five times to Rs 28.4 crore for the year ended March 2017, according to VCCEdge, the data intelligence platform of News Corp VCCircle.
Rajaraman said the company’s total income stood at Rs 55 crore for the year through March 2018.
The company had raised Rs 10 crore from Atyant Capital MD Rahul Saraogi as pre-Series A investment in 2016, Rajaraman added.
Early-stage venture capital firm Endiya Partners had made the final close of its debut fund at Rs 175 crore (around $26 million) in January last year.
The venture capital fund invests in technology, healthcare and consumer services.
Earlier this month, Endiya made a follow-on investment in Hansel Software Pvt. Ltd, which operates a mobile app management platform.
In July, Endiya invested in Steradian Semiconductors Pvt. Ltd, a deep-tech startup that is developing sensors for autonomous vehicles.
