Battery Smart mops up $45 Mn in new funding round

Battery Smart, a startup focused on battery technology, has successfully secured $45 million in its latest funding round from various investors, which include Acacia Inclusion Limited, MUFG Bank, Blume Ventures, The Ecosystem Integrity Fund, and British International Investment. According to regulatory filings accessed from the Registrar of Companies, the company’s board has approved a special resolution to issue 87,113 Series B CCPS at an issue price of Rs 43,203 each, aiming to raise Rs 376.35 crore ($45 million).

Acacia Inclusion took the lead in the funding round with Rs 124.75 crore, followed by MUFG Bank and Blume Ventures with Rs 93.56 crore and Rs 41.58 crore respectively. The Ecosystem Integrity Fund contributed Rs 41.58 crore, while British International Investment and PC-SBI Kurashi Visionary Fund joined the round with Rs 49.90 crore and Rs 24.94 crore respectively. Following the new round of allotment, Blume Ventures, an early backer of the company, holds a significant 14.43% stake, with Acacia Inclusion and Ecosystem Integrity holding 9.83% and 6.56% respectively. According to estimates from TheKredible, Battery Smart’s valuation has soared to Rs 2,830 crore or $341 million, marking a substantial 62.5% increase from its $210 million valuation in the pre-Series B financing round last November.

It’s worth noting that the round is ongoing, suggesting the potential for further fundraising and subsequent variations in valuation. The development was first reported by Inc42. In a previous funding round in July last year, the company raised $33 million in pre-Series B funding, bringing its total fundraising to over $120 million from investors like Tiger Global, Orios Venture Partners, Shimshon Finance, and Baring Private Equity. Battery Smart specializes in providing advanced lithium-ion batteries for electric two and three-wheelers, which can be conveniently swapped with fully charged ones at any of its swapping stations within minutes. Its battery-as-a-service (BaaS) solution enables customers to avoid high upfront costs. Since its establishment, the company has expanded to 1,000 swapping stations across 30 cities and has completed over 35 million battery swaps.

In the fiscal year ending in March 2023, Battery Smart reported a seven-fold increase in revenue to Rs 55.8 crore compared to Rs 7.95 crore in FY22. However, its losses surged by 4.9 times to Rs 64.51 crore during FY23 from Rs 13.08 crore in the previous fiscal year.

The company is yet to file its audited results for FY24. Battery Smart faces competition from companies like Sun Mobility, Bounce Infinity, Lithium Power, Lohum, Chargeup, and RACEnergy, among others.