[Funding alert] Log 9 Materials raises $2M from Petronas Ventures

Advanced battery-tech startup Log 9 Materials said it raised $2 million (around Rs 14 crore) in a funding round from Malaysia-based global energy and solutions company Petronas' venture capital arm Petronas Ventures.

In August, the platform had raised $8.5 million (Rs 63 crore) in a Series A+ round led by Amara Raja Batteries. With the fresh capital raise, Log 9 Materials said it has concluded its Series A+ round of $10 million, where investors, including Exfinity Ventures, Sequoia Capital India's Surge Programme, and a clutch of strategic angel investors, also participated.

"Log 9's technology and solution are aligned with Petronas Ventures investment focus in the space of Future of Energy', and we believe this investment will complement Petronas' growth in the new energy business," said Arni Laily Anwarrudin, Head of Petronas Ventures.

The funds raised from Petronas Ventures as a part of this round, along with the funds previously raised, will be used to launch and scale up the InstaCharge Network of electric vehicles, it said.

Log 9 has integrated its fast-charging RapidX batteries with various two and three-wheeler OEMs to create RapidEV variants of their existing vehicles, the startup stated, adding, it plans to deploy around 5,000 vehicles in the next six months within its InstaCharge Network.

"We are happy to wind up our Series A+ round with the latest fundraise from Petronas Ventures — which enables us to accelerate our ongoing mission of introducing our breakthrough InstaCharge (rapid charging) battery technology to a plethora of end-users and in positioning Log 9 as the largest Indian player in advanced cell chemistries," said Akshay Singhal, Founder-CEO, Log 9 Materials.

In the future, the company has ambitious plans to work with the Petronas business units to accelerate renewable energy adoption with its advanced battery solutions for grid-level energy storage, he said.

Log 9's batteries are capable of fully charging in 15 minutes for a two-wheeler and 40 minutes for a three-wheeler, making them ideal for commercial use cases, the company said, adding, these batteries have a life of over 15,000 cycles, corresponding to over 15 years of usage.

The commercial launch of the batteries is scheduled for this month, it said.