Battery swapping start-up Chargeup raises Rs 18 crore

Delhi-based battery swapping start-up Chargeup has raised $2.5 million (Rs 18 crore) in pre-Series A round led by Capital-A and Anicut Capital. The start-up aims to set up battery swapping network for electric two- and three-wheelers.

The investment round also saw participation from actors Tiger Shroff; Shraddha Kapoor; Aman and Sameer Mehta (co-founders of Boat). Grip invested as the leasing partner. The start-up says the funding will be used for the expansion of its network to new cities and building larger capacities to meet the growing demand.

Chargeup says it has adopted an advanced technology-driven approach to offer Battery as a Service (BaaS) with lightweight lithium batteries that can be swapped at multi swap points. This enables unlimited swaps and kilometre, helps the end-user to convert 50 percent of the vehicle cost from CapEx to OpEx, hence facilitating faster adoption of EVs.

The company says its standardised battery technology and capabilities will enable a 2-minute battery swap within a radius of 2km to ensure twice the revenue for drivers and dealer partners. Because of its partner-driver growth model, from two stations at the outset, the company has grown to 100 stations with 800 drivers on its platform, covering 2 million zero-emission km per month.

Varun Goenka, CEO and co-founder, Chargeup said, “With this funding support, we aim to expand our network coverage and further enhance the capacities of our battery swapping stations to meet the growing demand. With a strong grip on the execution of this business, Chargeup has built a CapEx and OpEx light model thus making it fast and scalable. Our tech-enabled network is managed through an advanced IoT solution to ease the operations for dealers and ensure asset security and utilisation. We are rapidly expanding our network and aiming to benefit the lives of millions of e-rickshaw drivers in India, while also extending our solutions to growing delivery network of electric two- and three-wheelers”

Ankit Kedia, founder, Capital-A said, “Development of sustainable and technology-driven support for mobility services is the need of the hour. Through its network of battery swapping stations, Chargeup is rapidly building a favourable EV ecosystem for faster adoption of EVs by eliminating the range anxiety as well as the challenge of battery ownership costs. This is our first investment as a part of our recently launched exclusive $10 million (Rs 75 crore) cleantech fund ‘Evolve’.”

Ashvin Chadha, co-founder and managing partner, Anicut Angel Fund said, “Green mobility is the need of the hour. India is a massive country with humongous last-mile connectivity operations. With the emergence of electric mobility, there is also an equally growing need to build infrastructure that charges the EVs of tomorrow. Mass adoption of EVs will gain momentum only when the charging concerns are eliminated through solutions such as battery swapping.”