Bengaluru-based deeptech startup Chara Technologies on Tuesday said it has raised $4.75 million (around Rs 39 crore) led by venture capital firm Exfinity Venture Partners in a pre-Series A fundraise.
The round also saw participation from Big Capital, the venture arm of Bitexco, and Log9 Materials, with existing investors Kalaari Capital and CIIE.Co.
Founded by Bhaktha Keshavachar, Ravi Prasad Sharma and Mahalingam Koushik in 2019, Chara claims to be building technologies and solutions to drive a zero-emission future. It has developed motors for use in a two-wheeler, three and four-wheeler light commercial vehicles (LCV) and in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) sectors.
“We are working towards changing the current trends in motor tech doing away with rare-earth-dependent practices. We are building rare-earth-free, hyper-efficient, cost-effective, intelligent motors and controllers for electric vehicles, heating ventilation and air conditioning and other industries,” said Keshavachar.
“To build hybrid version of SRM motors, an interdisciplinary team with backgrounds in electro-mechanical, power electronics and software domains is a must. We found that the Chara's founding team is exemplary in this regard,” said Chinnu Senthilkumar, managing partner at Exfinity Venture Partners.
India’s deeptech space has seen considerable investment activity in the last one year. In January 2023, deep-tech startup Praan raised $1.56 million in a round led by Social Impact Capital.
In September 2022, Exfinity Venture Partners led a $7 million Series A round in deeptech startup Awiros, with Inflexor Ventures.
SanchiConnect, in an interaction with VCCircle had said that it is planning to invest $50 million across 100 Indian deeptech startups this year.