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Energy storage solutions startup Clean Electric on Monday said it has raised USD 2.2 million (about Rs 18 crore) in a funding round led by early-stage venture capital firm Kalaari Capital. Besides, Climate Angels, which invests in early-stage pollution reduction and climate tech startups, has also invested in the company along with the participation of LV Fund, 7Square Ventures, and CIIE Regional Innovation Foundation in the seed funding round, the startup said in a statement. The company plans to set up a manufacturing facility in Pune to produce 5,000 battery packs per month with the funding, it said. Also, the funds will also be utilised for expanding R&D, sales and operations teams, apart from developing new products around faster charging, renewable energy storage, and battery swapping, it added. The startup said it has built liquid-cooled battery solutions for two-wheeler, three-wheeler, and battery swapping applications.
With a capital crunch creeping into the market, startup founders may find it difficult to raise funds at attractive valuations in the coming months, according to industry players. During a joint programme with Meta, formerly known as Facebook, Kalaari Capital's Founder and Managing Director Vani Kola on Wednesday said that customers may defer their purchase decisions and startup founders will need to tighten up their belts and look for alternative opportunities for the business. "There is going to be a period where customers are going to delay certain kinds of decision making, but maybe there are other decisions that they make. I do think, and added to that liquidity that has overleveraged, funds in public markets will flow down ... While we only recently celebrated the 100th unicorn, any of those 100 unicorns today if they have to raise capital will perhaps get a haircut of 30 if not 50 per cent," Kola said. Kola said she has seen four to five financial downturns and whenever there