SUMMARY
The funding round was a combination of equity and debt, with Meridian Global Ventures leading the equity part, and Indian Overseas Bank the debt
Cygni aims to grow its engineering division to fast-track the product development cycle and is also looking to set up a new greenfield manufacturing facility with 1.2 GWh annual capacity
Cygni currently operates a 250 MWh factory that has the capability to produce 10,000 Li-ion battery packs each month
Hyderabad-based lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery pack maker manufacturer Cygni Energy has raised $12.5 Mn (INR 100 Cr) in a funding round which was a combination of equity and debt. While the equity funding round was led by Meridian Global Ventures, the debt round was led by the Indian Overseas Bank.
The startup plans to use the fresh funds to fuel product development and business growth. Cygni aims to grow its engineering division to fast-track product development cycle and is also looking to set up a new greenfield manufacturing facility in the state of Telangana.
The greenfield project will have the capability of producing 40,000 battery packs per month, with 1.2 GigaWatt Hour (GWh) annual capacity, when all the lines are fully operational, Cygni said in a statement.
The Gigafactory will help Cygni maximise its battery production, scale the current capacity by 4X and contribute to the growing demand for electric vehicles (EVs) in India, the startup said.
Earlier, there were reports of Cygni planning to invest about $40 Mn (over INR 300 Cr) to set up the manufacturing plant.
Founded in 2014 by Venkat Rajaraman, Cygni currently operates a 250 Megawatt Hour (MWh) factory that has the capability to produce 10,000 Li-ion battery packs each month. It works with some of the leading EV OEMs in India. Besides, as an energy storage company, it also assists energy companies with customised energy storage solutions.
Cygni claims to be solving challenges pertaining to the traditional Li-ion batteries for mass adoption of EVs across automotive platforms as it has already deployed over 125 MWh of storage solutions and powered over 60,000 EVs.
“The need for enhancing EV battery performance, safety and access to quality products has never been more pressing. This round of funding will help us strengthen our product offering,” CEO Rajaraman said speaking about the fundraising.
Recently, Cygni also acquired a land parcel in Telangana under the state EV policy to create the country’s most-advanced Li-ion battery manufacturing unit.
The push by governments for EV adoption in the country and the rising number of EVs have brought the focus on the need for India-manufactured batteries and other components. The issue got further prominence after the recent fire incidents in the country involving EVs.
Cygni is currently one of the leaders in the space, developing products designed to function in Indian conditions.
It is pertinent to mention in this context that Matter, India’s first active liquid-cooled two-wheeler electric EV battery maker, also closed an initial round of equity funding at $10 Mn in June to launch its new line of electric mobility and energy storage products.
The Ministry of Heavy Industries has also signed contracts with Ola Electric, Reliance New Energy, and Rajesh Exports, under its Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for manufacturing advanced chemistry cell (ACC) batteries. These companies are expected to set up a battery manufacturing capacity of around 95 GWh.
As per a recent NITI Aayog report, India’s total cumulative potential for battery storage will be 600 GWh by 2030 considering a base case scenario.
