Bengaluru-headquartered advanced battery and fuel cell technology company, Log 9 Materials has raised $8.5 million in Series A+ funding led by Amara Raja Batteries (ARBL), an industrial and automotive batteries manufacturer. The company has entered into an equity partnership and collaboration with Amara Raja Batteries.

ARBL was the anchor investor in the funding round, investing $5 million. Another $3.5 Million was raised from new and existing investors in the ongoing $10-12 million Series A+ round. Existing investors include Exfinity Ventures and Sequoia Capital India’s Surge Program.

Rajesh Yabaji and Chanakya Hridaya, co-founders of logistics industry Unicorn Blackbuck; Rajesh Ramaiah, partner at Premji Invest; Desikan Sundarajan, MD at Equinor and Faiz Mayalakkara, Director Investments at Emirates Investment Authority, were the strategic angels who also participated in Log 9’s Series A+ funding. AC Ventures (SEA Frontier Fund) is also one of the new investors of Log 9.

The funds will be utilized to expand the production capacity of Log 9’s Rapid Charging Battery technology, which is due for commercial roll-out in October 2021. Further, the fund will also be utilized to advance the start-up’s supercapacitor and aluminum fuel cell-based innovations. The company plans to set up local cell manufacturing in the niche category under the government’s performance-linked incentive program. The ‘National program on Advanced Chemical Cell (ACC) battery storage’ is launched by the government to implement ACC manufacturing facilities for electric vehicles (EV).

The investment will spur Log 9’s research and development work for ongoing projects. Amara Raja Batteries is expected to be the primary partner for scaling up the manufacturing operations of Log 9’s battery and fuel cell technologies.

Commenting on the funding, Akshay Singhal, Founder & 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 commercialization at the scale of our Rapid Charging Batteries, which will play a significant role in Log 9 becoming the frontrunner and one of the most significant Indian players in advanced cell chemistries.”

“In the upcoming months of 2021, we are looking to take our breakthrough rapid charging battery tech to end-users at scale. The development and advancements of our Aluminum Fuel Cells will also continue to happen, including pilots and OEM-level vehicular integrations.” He added.

Amara Raja Batteries’ investment is part of the bold ‘Energy & Mobility’ strategy announced by the company. The strategy is to focus on new green technologies and solutions.

According to Vikramadithya Gourineni, Executive Director at Amara Raja Batteries, the investment aligns with the company’s plans to invest in cutting-edge technologies to accelerate its evolution towards becoming an ‘Energy & Mobility’ enterprise.

Gourineni said, “This will mark the first in a series of exciting 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. We are convinced that there will be the scope for an interplay of multiple technology solutions for various applications.  We believe that Log 9 has made significant progress in developing various technologies that will prove very promising in emerging mobility applications. ”

Log 9 claims its newly-developed Rapid Charging Battery Packs solve multiple challenges to expedite two and three-wheeler EV adoption in India. Log 9’s flagship Aluminum Fuel Cell technology is targeted towards long-haul electric mobility and as a zero-emission alternative to diesel generators.

According to Mercom Research, in Q4 2019, Log 9 Materials raised $3.5 million in Series A funding led by Exfinity Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital India.

According to Mercom Capital Group’s 1H and Q2 2021 Funding and M&A Report for Battery Storage, Smart Grid, and Efficiency, VC funding in battery storage companies in 1H 2021 was up significantly with $4.4 billion compared to $536 million in 1H 2020.