[Funding alert] Ex-Ather Energy led Exponent Energy raises $5M in pre-Series A round

Exponent Energy, a technology startup dedicated to simplifying energy for electric vehicles (EVs), on Wednesday announced it has raised $5 million in a pre-Series A round of funding. Existing investor, YourNest VC led the round.

Other existing investors, 3one4 Capital and AdvantEdge VC, doubled down on their earlier investment as the new round witnessed the participation of Motherson Group, a leading global supplier of automotive components.

Led by former Ather Energy CPO Arun Vinayak along with his colleague at Ather Energy Sanjay Byalal, Exponent Energy aims to simplify energy for EVs. In line with this, the company recently unveiled its battery pack and charging station called the E-pack and E-pump that together unlocks a 15-minute rapid charge and gives a 3000 cycle life warranty (a new industry standard) — all done on a range of affordable Li-ion cells.

This is made possible by their proprietary BMS and charging algorithms, layered on top of their unique E-pack design. 

The company will use the funds raised to begin commercial operations and scale it across multiple cities starting with Bengaluru from early 2022; hire across product and engineering teams to ensure their products enter production, build out a robust deployment team for smooth operations and double down on its software products to create a seamless customer experience.

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Commenting on the fundraise, Arun Vinayak, Co-founder and CEO, said,

“We’re excited to deepen our partnership with our existing investors who’ve watched us build from scratch. Motherson coming on board adds immense value to scale with respect to OEM relationships & manufacturing partnerships. Given the demand witnessed for our rapid charging technology in the logistics space, we prioritized closing the Pre-Series A to enter the market by early 2022.”

Market Opportunity

The founder states that EVs today take anywhere between 4 to 8 hours to charge with batteries that last ~1000 cycles, creating a broken energy ecosystem.

Long charge times lead to poor charging station use, making them unprofitable as a business, and leading to a scarce network presence. Slow charging leads to larger unoptimised batteries to combat range anxiety, making the vehicle bulky and expensive. A short battery life drives battery pack financing skyhigh further adding pressure to the end consumer & hampering EV adoption.

Speaking about the company’s vision, Arun states,

“For nearly a decade, stakeholders have come together to solve the drivetrains of the EV ecosystem, getting the 0-1 shift done and dusted for EV adoption. However, to unlock scale, the 1-100 journey needs energy partnerships crafted in a way that creates a win-win-win scenario for the consumer, the vehicle manufacturer, and the charging station partner. At Exponent, we are creating that deeper impact for everyone to scale exponentially.”

“Wide-scale adoption of EVs will be limited due to the prolonged charging hours and restricted charging infrastructure. Exponent Energy has developed the much-needed proprietary rapid charging battery and infrastructure technology to provide a seamless and rapid charging experience of ‘recharge like you refuel’. With this round of investment, the company plans to enter and become a dominant player in the market to make our world sustainable,” added Sunil Goyal, Managing Director, YourNest VC.