Chara Secures Funding To Build Intelligent Motors & Controllers For EV, HVAC

Deeptech startup Chara has raised $4.75 Mn in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Exfinity Venture Partners.

Existing investors Kalaari Capital, CIIE.CO and new investors–Big Capital, a venture arm of Bitexco, and Log9 Materials, also have participated in the funding round.

The development comes about eight months after Chara got shortlisted by Accenture Sustainability Value Accelerator and received an undisclosed amount of seed funding as part of the accelerator program.

Founded in 2019 by Bhaktha Keshavachar, Ravi Prasad Sharma and Mahalingam Koushik, Chara is a magnet-free electric motor manufacturer startup. It claims to have built motors for two, three and four-wheelers LCVs and HVAC use cases.

Chara shared that its motors and controllers are currently being field tested and would be going for production later this year (2023). It also stated that it has filed patents in motor and controller design along with control algorithms for its motor technologies.

“We are working towards turning the current motor tech on its head, doing away with inefficient and rare-earth-dependent practices. We are building rare-earth-free, hyper-efficient, cost-effective, intelligent motors and controllers for EV, HVAC, and other industries,” said Bhaktha Keshavachar, founder and CEO, Chara Technologies.

Chara’s founders are serial entrepreneurs, product experts, and motor technologists. They hold years of experience developing deep-tech products and technologies as shared by the startup. 

Its electric motor ranges from fractional kW (kiloWatt) to 10’s of kW with voltage ranges from 48V to 400V.

“BIG Capital continues to support innovative technologies that will power the world of the future. As part of our commitment to environment-friendly solution for land and aerospace markets, we were especially attracted to Chara motors with the focus on rare earth-free electric motors that are safer for the planet, more cost-efficient and offers better efficiency compared to the legacy solutions,” said, Preetinder Singh Panjrath, CFO of BIG Capital.

In India, it faces competition from the likes of Okinawa, Mohta Electric and NBE Motors, among others. 

According to a Future Market Insights report, India’s deeptech market is anticipated to become a $3,733 Mn by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 21.8% during 2022-32.