Bengaluru-based deeptech startup Chara has raised $4.75 million in its pre-series A round led by Exfinity Venture Partners. The round also saw participation from Vietnam-based Big Capital, venture arm of Bitexco and Log9 Materials and existing backers Kalaari Capital and ciie.co.
Founded in November 2019 by Bhaktha Keshavachar, Ravi Prasad Sharma, and Mahalingam Koushik, Chara is building a scalable, cloud-controlled, and rare-earth free platform for designing, building, and deploying electric motors for EV, HVAC and various other applications.
Chara’s proprietary Drive Control FIrmware (DCF) is a suite of packages consisting of advanced motor control algorithms at its core. Using model-based design (MBD), DCF gives peak motor performance while ensuring optimum efficiency, thermal management and smooth, ripple-free torque delivery.
The startup claims to have built motors for two-wheeler (hub and mid-mount), 3 and 4-wheeler LCVs and HVAC use cases. The motors and its matching controllers are being field tested and are expected to go into production later this year. As per Chara, it also has several projects lined up to build motors and controllers for heavy commercial vehicles. Its current motor range starts from fractional kW to 10’s of kW with voltage ranges from 48V to 400V.
Exfinity Venture Partners, an early stage venture capital firm investing in technology product companies in the B2B space, recently announced its partial exit from Pixis. The fund has also backed Qritive, Log 9 Materials, Kinara, unSCRIPT.ai , MoEngage, Ati Motors, and Awiros, among others.