TecSo Charge Zone Pvt Ltd, which operates electric vehicle (EV) charging startup Charge+Zone, has raised $3 million (Rs 22.4 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round.
The round in Vadodara-based Charge+Zone has been led by startup incubator and accelerator Venture Catalysts, with participation from the Mumbai Angels Network, Keiretsu Forum, and the Ramakrishnan Family Office.
This pre-Series A round comes after Charge+Zone in May raised an undisclosed sum in funding from Mumbai Angels.
Charge+Zone, set up in 2018 by Kartikey Hariyani and Pavan Bakeri, says its mobile application provides drivers of electric vehicles with a one-stop solution for issues such as the availability of charging points and pre-booking them. The company says it has more than 120 fast DC charging points across seven cities, and that it caters to more than 500 vehicles daily.
It will use the capital from this latest round to scale its operations and work towards its goal of building one million unmanned charging points in the country within ten years, Hariyani said.
Deals in the EV space
The bet on Charge+Zone is indicative of continuing interest in the EV segment, which has also received government support.
In September, Etrio Automobiles Pvt. Ltd raised $3 million (around Rs 22 crore) in a Series A funding round led by Janardhan Rao, who is the founder of Triumph Global Group, a Singapore-based international commodity trading house.
Also that month, the EV parts and ecosystem-focussed Cellprop Pvt. Ltd raised capital in a pre-Series A round led by early-stage investor GrowX Ventures and clean mobility-focussed seed fund Micelio.
Traditional manufacturers have also made strategic bets in this sector. Electric bike maker Ultraviolette Automotive Pvt. Ltd raised Rs 30 crore ($4.1 million) from existing investor TVS Motor Company as part of its Series B funding round.
In July, Ather Energy raised another Rs 84 crore ($11.21 million) from Hero MotoCorp as an extension of its Series C funding round.
