Bengaluru-headquartered advanced battery and fuel cell technology company Log9 Materials has raised $40 million as part of its Series B funding led by Amara Raja Batteries and Petronas Ventures.

The round saw participation from Incred Financial Services, Unity Small Finance Bank, Oxyzo Financial Services, and Western Capital Advisors. Log9 is also backed by CBC Japan, Grip Invest Advisors, Cornerstone Venture Partners, LO Funds, Oxy Capital, and other leading angel investors.

Akshay Singhal, Founder and CEO of Log9, said the company expects that the recent round of investments will allow it to grow its battery manufacturing capabilities to a 2 GWh capacity by the end of 2024 and commission a fully integrated lithium-ion cell production line.

“Furthermore, over ₹1 billion (~$12.28 million) will be invested towards advancements in cell and battery technology stacks. As a battery technology pioneer, we foresee these investments to cement our position as a leader in the commercial EV space and to expand into stationary battery sectors such as power backup and grid storage. We will also be aggressively pursuing pilots in overseas markets over the next few quarters, with a particular focus on the tropical belt,” Singhal said.

Log9 had previously raised $8.5 million in Series A+ funding led by Amara Raja Batteries. It had also raised $3.5 million in Series A funding led by Exfinity Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital India.

The company had received the Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) 156 (Rev 3, Ph 1) certification for its RapidX 8000 battery pack designed for electric three-wheelers. The certificate was awarded based on safety tests conducted by International Centre for Automotive Technology.

Log9 Materials announced a strategic collaboration with three-wheeler EV fleet operator 3eco Systems to deploy 2,000+ InstaCharged heavy-duty Shakti 8 Cargo (S8Ci) EVs across India over the next 18 months. The vehicles’ deployments will be initiated from Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai and then extended to other metro cities.

Electric vehicle industry stakeholders are optimistic about 2023 after EV sales reached a record level in 2022. EV sales in India touched nearly a million vehicles last year, a growth of 300% year-over-year.

According to Mercom Capital Group’s Annual and Q4 2022 Funding and M&A Report For Storage, Grid & Efficiency, VC funding in energy storage companies in 2022 was up significantly down with $5.8 billion compared to $8.8 billion in 2021.