Log 9 Materials raises Rs 63 crore in Series A+ funding led by Amara Raja Batteries

Bangalore-based advanced battery-tech start-up Log 9 Materials has raised $8.5 million (Rs 63 crore) in Series A+ Funding round, which was led by Amara Raja Batteries (ARBL).

The start-up says ARBL's investment in Log 9 Materials is a part of the 'Energy & Mobility' strategy announced by the Amara Raja in June, which focuses on entering into new green technologies and solutions. As per the understanding, the investment will provide an impetus to the research and development work at ongoing projects of Log 9 and ARBL is expected to be the primary partner for scaling up the manufacturing operations of Log9's battery and fuel cell technologies. 

It maybe recollected that in May, Log 9 had launched a first-of-its-kind rapid charging battery targeted towards the two- and three-wheeler segment. The start-up claims that its rapid charging battery packs can be fully charged in less than 15 minutes, last for more than 15 years, offer upto 5x power (resulting in increased load-bearing capacity and acceleration) and is 5 times safer in terms of fire-resistance and impact-resistance, when compared to the popular lithium-ion batteries. The battery packs also promise a range of more than 70km for electric two-wheelers and 60-80km for electric three-wheelers.

Akshay Singhal, founder and CEO, Log 9 Materials said, “We are delighted to have ARBL as one of the anchor investors in the Series A+ funding round of Log 9. The partnership with ARBL will enable us to propel commercialisation at the scale of our Rapid Charging Batteries, which in turn shall play a major role in the future in Log 9 eventually becoming the frontrunner and one of the largest Indian players in advanced cell chemistries. In the upcoming months of 2021, we at Log 9 are looking to take our breakthrough rapid charging battery-tech to end-users at scale; on the other hand, the development and advancements of our Aluminium Fuel Cells will also continue to happen in parallel – including pilots and OEM-level vehicular integrations.”

Vikramadithya Gourineni, executive director, ARBL said that the investment is in line with the company’s plans to invest in cutting-edge technologies to accelerate its evolution towards becoming an 'Energy & Mobility' enterprise.  “This will mark the first in a series of interesting developments that we plan to execute in the future. In this fast-changing technology landscape, we do not believe in a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach and we are convinced that there will be the scope for the interplay of multiple technology solutions for various applications. We believe that Log 9 has made great progress in developing a range of technologies that will prove very promising in emerging mobility applications. I am confident that both entities can derive significant synergies resulting in mutual long-term benefits.”

The company says it has also got funding from new investors, along with its existing investors to the tune of $8.5 million in the ongoing $10-12 million (Rs 74-89 crore) Series A+ round. The funds will be utilised to expand production capacity and business development efforts of Log 9’s latest innovation ‘Rapid Charging Battery’ technology which has already completed successful pilots and is due for commercial roll-out in October. Furthermore, it will also advance the start-up’s Supercapacitor and Aluminium Fuel Cell-based innovations. Log 9 Materials plans to set up local cell manufacturing for these technologies under the niche category of the ACC PLI Scheme in the coming years.