Tiger Global leads $25 mn fund-raise by Indias Battery Smart

New Delhi, June 27 (IANS) EV battery-swapping provider Battery Smart on Monday said it has raised $25 million in its Series A round led by Tiger Global, along with participation from Blume Ventures and Orios Ventures.The startup said the funds will be utilised to expand to new territories, strengthen its ‘Battery Assignment Technology’, and build its team to continue scaling operations.”With this investment, we are focused on bringing our offerings to even more EV users pan-India, by increasing the number of swap stations and continuing to partner with OEMs and fleet operators,” said Pulkit Khurana, Co-Founder, Battery Smart.In November last year, it raised $7 million in a pre-series A round led by Blume Ventures and Orios Ventures, along with other investors.Its battery-as-a-service model enables interoperable battery swapping for EVs in under two minutes and reduces the up-front investment borne by a consumer by up to 60 per cent. IThe company has completed over 2.5 million battery swaps and powered 80 million emission-free kms.”Battery Smart’s tech-powered battery-swapping network offers an innovative solution to power India’s rapid adoption of EVs for food delivery and e-commerce,” said Connie Lee, Partner, Tiger Global.With Niti Aayog publishing a draft battery swapping policy last month, battery swapping infrastructure and EV financing will continue to receive heightened focus from the government. According to reports, the battery swapping market in India has strong growth prospects, with EV two and three-wheelers expected to contribute up to 30 per cent of first and last-mile vehicle sales by 2027.Operationalised in June 2020, Battery Smart has more than 200 live swap stations across 10 cities.The company is co-founded by serial entrepreneurs and IIT-Kanpur graduates Khurana and Siddharth Sikka.–IANSna/