Lightspeed leads funding round in EV charging startup Exponent Energy

Electric mobility infrastructure startup Exponent Energy Pvt. Ltd, on Wednesday said it has raised $13 million (around Rs 102 crore) in a Series A round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. The existing backers YourNest VC, 3one4 Capital and AdvantEdge VC also participated in the round.   

The company, focused on fast charging for electric vehicles, is aiming to streamline e-pack production. The fresh funds will be used to scale the charging network to 100 locations per city starting with Bengaluru. 

“Our technology already delivers a seamless charging experience and with our vehicle partnership in place, we’ll scale our production and network presence to 100 e-pump location points per city. This funding now allows us to execute even faster and make 15-minute rapid charging the new normal,” Arun Vinayak, co-founder and chief executive officer, Exponent Energy.   

Founded by Ather Energy’s ex-chief product officer Arun Vinayak and Sanjay Byalal, his colleague at Ather Energy, Exponent Energy claims that its solution can unlock 15-minute rapid charging for EVs using regular lithium-ion cells while maintaining a charging cycle count of 3,000.    

 In December 2021, Exponent raised $5 million in a Pre-Series A funding round led by YourNest Venture Capital with participation from 3one4 Capital, AdvantEdge VC and Motherson Group.

Venture capital and private equity companies have invested $666 million across 24 deals in the Indian electric mobility industry this year so far, a joint report titled ‘Electrifying Indian Mobility’ by IVCA-EY-Induslaw recently said.   

According to the report, the Indian electric vehicle (EV) industry saw 8 times year-on-year growth in VC/PE investments, to $1.7 billion in 2021, from $181 million in 2020. Last year, EV registrations amounted to 330,000 units, a jump of nearly 3x from 2020. Electric vehicle sales in the first quarter of 2022 have been at almost 110,000 units. As of CY21, the report states, electric vehicles accounted for 1.1% of total vehicle sales and are now expected to account for 39% of total automotive sales by CY27, growing at a 68% CAGR over the next 5 years.

Buoyed by the industry’s prospects and the mandate to invest in clean technologies, private equity companies and venture capital funds are investing significant amounts in the Indian electric mobility space.