International Battery Company (IBC), which manufactures rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries has raised $35 million in a pre-Series A round, led by early-stage venture capital firm RTP Global in its first funding round ever.
Singapore-based venture capital firm Beenext, early-stage investor Veda VC, a few other strategic Korean and US investors are also participating in the round.
“Our investment in International Battery Company underscores RTP Global's commitment to sustainable technology investments,” Nishit Garg, partner on RTP Global’s Asia investment.
“It reinforces our strategy of investing in early-stage ventures and our long-term support for their founders.”
IBC is deploying the capital from its maiden fundraise in product development, improving efficiency and in setting up a manufacturing facility, founder Priyadarshi Panda told VCCircle.
Panda is an alumnus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, specialising in micro and nanoscience.
Founded in 2022 by Panda, Raj Singh, Venkatesh Valluri and Sasi Kuppannagari, IBC specialises in the development of large-sized, ecofriendly Prismatic Li-ion Nickel Manganese Cobalt batteries.
The company provides rechargeable batteries to its customers operating in small mobility sectors in India.
These batteries meet the region's distinctive requirements to operate safely in high temperatures, support fast charging capacities.
While the company’s research and development unit is based in California, it has a 50 MWh manufacturing facility in South Korea and is in the process of setting up another factory in Bengaluru, which will commence production by 2025.
“Our goal is to take that facility and copy the exact (South Korean factory) in a larger footprint in Karnataka,” said Panda. “We intend to build a 2 GWh facility by 2025 and have 8GWh addition by 2028.”
