[Funding alert] IIT Hyderabad-incubated startup Pure EV raises undisclosed funding

Hyderabad-based startup Pure Electric Vehicle (EV) on Thursday said that it has raised an undisclosed amount in equity funding from VC Nannapaneni, Chairman and Managing Director of pharmaceutical company NATCO, who has made the investment in his personal capacity. Pure EV, founded in 2016 by Nishanth Dongari is an electric vehicle company which is incubated out of IIT Hyderabad. The startup manufactures electric vehicles and lithium batteries. 

Pure EV plans to use the funds for research and development, as well as for increasing its production capacity of its high-speed and long-range scooter and motorcycle, which are scheduled for commercial launch in October 2019 and early 2020, respectively. 

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According to Pure EV, with this round the valuation of the startup stands at $35 million. 

Commenting on the fund raise, V.C. Nannapaneni, Chairman and Managing Director of NATCO, said,

“The vision and the zeal of the founders has been noteworthy and aligned with our vision to promote young entrepreneurs in areas with the highest level of societal impact and value  addition to local economy. The nurture and support of IIT Hyderabad in helping them grow to their current stature is highly appreciative. We hope they are able to succeed in their vision to promote usage of electric vehicles amongst the masses.”

In April this year, the startup announced the launch of four two-wheeler electric models - ‘Egnite,’ ‘Etrance,’ ‘Epluto,’ and ‘Etron’. The startup has co-located its facilities for research and development as well as production facility with IIT Hyderabad. 

Speaking on the facilities, Nishanth Dongari, Founder of Pure EV said, 

“We have facilities for the assembly and testing of the lithium battery packs and are planning to increase our capacity to five megawatt hours per month. Thermal management of high-voltage direct current (HVDC) batteries, active balancing battery management system and predicting the lifecycle of batteries through accurate algorithms are the key focus areas.”

Rohit Vadera, CEO of Pure EV, said, 

“We are delighted to have received this funding. The funding will be primarily utilized for expanding the manufacturing capacity by installation of an automated assembly line and strengthening of the company operations.”

Pure EV is looking to increase its EV manufacturing capacity to 2000 units per

month by October 2019 and aims to deploy over 10,000 electric vehicles on the road during 2019-20.

 It has also been developing a prototype of HVDC electric truck or bus lithium battery modules and intends to showcase them in 2020 for potential collaborations.

(Edited by Evelyn Ratnakumar)

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