 "Pawan Munjal-backed Exponent raises $26.4 million in Series B round")
Exponent Energy, a startup which has built 15-minute charging technology for electric vehicles, has raised $26.4 million in a Series B round led by Eight Roads Ventures, including a strategic investment from TDK Ventures – marking their first investment in India's EV sector. Along with two new global investors, the round witnessed participation from all existing investors like Lightspeed, YourNest VC, 3one4 Capital, AdvantEdge VC, and the family office of Dr. Pawan Munjal, Executive Chairman, Hero MotoCorp.
“The last three years were an incredible journey of building world-class technology, achieving product market fit, and unlocking freedom and flexibility for our customers in logistics,” said Arun Vinayak, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Exponent Energy. “With this round, we’re set to scale operations from battery manufacturing to on-ground network presence across categories and cities.”
The three-year-old Bengaluru-based startup has raised $44.4 million in total so far and plans to utilise the fresh funds to scale its presence to five new cities by the financial year 2024. The company also plans to expand its offering in the e3W space and enter the intercity e-bus segment in 2024. It aims to deploy 1,000 e-pumps (charging stations) and have 25,000 EVs powered by Exponent by 2025.
“Exponent’s focus on the Indian commercial vehicle space is a massive opportunity which constitutes 10 per cent of vehicles but consumes 70 per cent of the on-road energy, with more vehicles transitioning to electric over the next few years,” said Aditya Systla, Partner, Eight Roads Ventures.
Exponent’s proprietary energy stack - battery pack (e-pack), charging station (e-pump), and charging connector (e-plug) - together unlock a 0-100 per cent rapid charge, in 15 minutes for EVs and unlock a 3,000-cycle life warranty using regular lithium-ion cells. Exponent partners with OEMs to integrate its e-pack to create a rapid charging variant and sets up a network of e-pumps for end users operating in logistics to seamlessly charge their Exponent-powered EVs.
“We share the vision of expanding rapid charging accessibility at a reasonable cost, making electric mobility an option for everyone,” said Nicolas Sauvage, President, TDK Ventures. “This collaboration represents an exciting stride toward a more sustainable and electrified future."