Clean Electric Bags $6 Mn From Info Edge Ventures, Kalaari, Others To Scale Up Operations

Deeptech startup Clean Electric has raised $6 Mn (INR 50.3 Cr) in its Series A funding round co-led by Info Edge Ventures, pi Ventures, and existing investor Kalaari Capital. 

The funding round also saw participation from Lok Capital and other strategic investors.

The lead investors pumped in INR 14.5 Cr ($1.7 Mn) each in the round, while Lok Capital invested INR 5 Cr ($595K), Clean Electric cofounder and CEO Akash Gupta told Inc42.

The funds will be utilised to increase the startup’s annual run rate (ARR) to INR 100 Cr by September next year from INR 10 Cr currently, the cofounder added.

Gupta said the startup currently gets revenue of INR 80 Lakh per month from sales, which it aims to increase to INR 8-10 Cr over the next year or so. It is also eyeing profitability in two years.

Founded in 2020 by Gupta, Abhinav Roy, and Ankit Joshi, Clean Electric builds lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles that can be charged in 12 minutes.

Gupta said that the startup has commercialised its electric two-wheeler battery packs and is in the process of scaling up production of battery packs for three and four-wheelers in the next 12 months. The startup has regulatory certifications for two-wheeler and three-wheeler battery packs and is eyeing certifications for battery packs for four-wheelers by December this year. 

“The idea is to do a public demonstration for four wheelers and commercial vehicles in the next 12 months with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs),” the cofounder said. 

Clean Electric currently works with 12 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), including Bounce Infinity, Omega Seiki mobility, among others. Besides, it is in advanced stages of discussions with eight OEMs for the use of its batteries. 

Prior to this, the startup raised $2.2 Mn in its seed funding round in October 2022 from Kalaari Capital, Climate Angels, LetsVenture, others.

Speaking about the new investors joining Clean Electric’s cap table, Gupta said that they will play a critical role. “All three investors bring different values to our board. While Info Edge can help build us a more profitable business, pi Ventures brings in expertise in the deeptech ecosystem. Lok Capital is an impact fund and will help us follow more ESG compliances,” he said. 

Speaking on the funding, pi Ventures managing director Shubham Sandeep said, “Affordable fast charging is a precursor to mainstream EV adoption and driven by its full stack approach encompassing both software and hardware innovation, Clean Electric is well positioned to capture this large growing market. This marks our first investment in the EV space and we are excited to partner with Akash, Abhinav and the Clean Electric team.”

Gupta also said that Clean Electric is in talks for a follow-on debt funding round. 

Clean Electric competes with the likes of Exponent Energy and EMO Energy in the country’s burgeoning electric vehicle market.