Charge Zone Secures $19 Mn Commitment From British International Investment

EV charging startup Charge Zone has secured a $19 Mn (around INR 158 Cr) commitment from the UK government’s development finance institution British International Investment (BII).

The startup will use the fresh capital to ramp up expansion of its charging network for electric cars, buses and trucks across key cities and highways in India. 

Its expansion strategy focuses on markets such as Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai where the demand for EV charging infrastructure is rapidly growing, the company said in a statement.

The company said that this funding will enable it to roll out more than 1500 super charging stations over the next 18 months to reach a portfolio of over 10,000 charging stations by 2027.

Kartikey Hariyani, founder and chief executive of Charze Zone, said, “This strategic investment not only bolsters our capacity for network expansion but also serves as a testament to our shared vision for a sustainable future. With this infusion of capital, we will accelerate our efforts in deploying state-of-the-art charging stations, ensuring that EV drivers across the nation experience unparalleled convenience and reliability.”

“Charge Zone is addressing a critical bottleneck for EV adoption by developing a dense and reliable fast-charging network. This commitment from BII will help accelerate  Charge Zone’s network expansion and support the Indian government’s EV ambitions,” said, Maheep Jain,  Charge Zone’s Board Member and Managing Director, Macquarie Capital. 

Srini Nagarajan, managing director and head of Asia, at BII, said, “As the UK’s DFI with a focus on providing climate finance, we continue to play a key role in accelerating India’s clean energy transition. Our support of  Charge Zone’s expansion will address the challenge of an underdeveloped EV charging infrastructure, facilitate a more sustainable transportation system and make EVs a viable and accessible option for many across the country.”

Founded in 2018 by Kartikey Hariyani, Charge Zone is a tech-driven EV charging networks startup that provides high-speed charging networks for electric cars, buses, trucks etc. 

The startup claims to have over 3,200 charging points across 400+ locations in India and UAE.

This comes four months after the company raised $10 Mn in a bridge funding round led by Venture Catalysts.

Prior to that, it raised $54 Mn in a mix of equity and debt funding round led by global impact investment manager BlueOrchard Finance.

So far it has raised a total funding of $66.95 Mn. 

It competes against ElectricPe, Bolt.Earth, Ather Energy, BluSmart, Magenta Power in the EV charging space. 

It is pertinent to know that with the growing number of EVs in India, the need for the country’s EV charging ecosystem is also growing. 

However, there still lies a gap in the number of EVs and existing charging stations in the country. This reason has led to the growing investor interest around the EV charging startups lately. 

For instance, earlier this year BluSmart was reported to raise $25 Mn (around INR 208 Cr) in a fresh funding round from Switzerland-based impact investor responsAbility Investments AG in a mezzanine structure, including partial equity dilution and debt.

Last year, Bolt.Earth raised a funding of $20 Mn from its existing and new investors, including Union Square Ventures, Prime Venture Partners, ITIGO Funds, and others.