Tiger Global-backed Battery Smart raises $33 Mn in pre Series B

Battery swapping network Battery Smart has raised $33 million in a pre-Series B funding round. The round saw participation from the startup's existing investors Tiger Global and Blume Ventures and new investors The Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF) and British International Investment (BII).

With this, the company has scooped up over $70 million including a $9 million debt in December 2022 and $25 million Series A round in June last year. The added capital will be utilised by the company to add 100K customers to its network by 2025, and expand its geographic footprint, the company said in a press release.

As per Fintrackr’s estimates, Battery Smart was valued at around $126 million during the last equity round. The latest valuation couldn’t be ascertained.

Gurugram-based Battery Smart provides advanced lithium-ion batteries for electric two and three-wheelers where batteries are swapped with fully charged ones in just two minutes at any of its swapping stations. According to the company, its battery-as-a-service (BaaS) solution helps customers to save high upfront costs.

Since Series A funding, the company claims to have witnessed a 6x growth in its revenue and customer base, creating a network encompassing more than 600 swap stations across 25 cities. To date, the company has completed more than 12 million battery swaps and has 25,000 active customers across tier I, II and III cities.

The company competes with Sun Mobility, Bounce Infinity, Lithium Power, Chargeup, RACEnergy, among others.

Battery Smart’s revenue from operations skyrocketed 44X to Rs 7.95 crore during the fiscal year ending March 2022 from Rs 18 lakh in FY21. The firm’s losses also surged 23 fold to Rs 13.08 crore during the period. The company is yet to file its FY23 numbers.

Unlike the past couple of years, Tiger Global has almost stayed out of investments in Indian startups and backed only three companies in 2023. In January, it invested in its portfolio company PhonePe while Infinite Uptime was the first new investment for the New York-based fund this year.