ION Energy Raises $3.6 Mn Led By Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund

ION Energy, an energy-tech startup building advanced electronics and software platforms for new energy enterprises today announced it has raised $3.6 Mn in pre-series A funding. The round was raised from Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund and joined by Silicon Valley-based Climate Capital, early-stage investor YourNest Venture Capital, Riso Capital, Venture Catalysts, and other angel investors.

The funds will be used to grow the ION’s current team size of 70 members to over 125, invest in product development, and expand the software business in North America and Europe.

Founded in 2016 by Akhil Aryan and Alexandre Collet, ION Energy builds advanced electronics and software platforms for new energy companies. The company’s flagship product so far has been its Battery Management System (BMS), which enables OEMs/Battery Pack Makers to deploy smart battery systems.

As part of the round, Anup Menon, head of strategy and emerging technology at Bank of America will join ION’s Board of Directors.

“Globally, we believe 2021 will be the inflection point for the new energy transition as both companies and governments come together towards reducing carbon emissions. At ION, we’re confident that advanced electronics and software that help enterprises accelerate this transition will become mission-critical to meet our goals of a zero-carbon future,” says Akhil Aryan, cofounder and CEO of ION Energy.

In 2019, with the increase in deployments, the company recognised the need for a dedicated battery analytics software and launched Altergo (previously called Edison Analytics), a digital twin platform for battery intelligence. Altergo now manages 700+ MWh of battery storage in the cloud.

ION currently supplies to 75+ OEMs across 15 countries including India, France, Spain and the US. Since its inception, the company claims to have  deployed over 60,000 smart BMS in electric vehicles and stationary storage systems. This round of investment will enable ION to serve the customers that are in its $15Mn+ order pipeline and invest into growing the SaaS business exponentially.

With the world accelerating towards zero emissions and large-scale utilisation of renewable energy, efficient energy storage is becoming more and more important. The startups in this sector are also expected to play an important role in the establishment of India’s smart cities of the future.

While the number of participants operating in the energy sector is currently less as compared to the other sectors, it will definitely grow in the future. Some of the key startups in the Indian energy sector are energy-efficiency-as-a-service startup Smart Joules, which recently raised $4.1 Mn in its series A funding round; independent power producer of renewable energy ReNew Power, which raised $435 Mn through dollar denominated green bonds; and Distributed Energy, which raised INR 10 Cr to launch an online platform that connects startups with renewable energy projects.

Apart from startups, the Indian government is also working towards similar goals. Under the National Solar Mission, the government has set a target of achieving 175 gigawatts of installed renewable energy capacity by the end of 2022. It is worth mentioning that out of this 175 GW, the government is planning to generate 40 gigawatts of energy from solar rooftops.