Chara, a Bengaluru-based deep-tech start-up, has raised a pre-series A round of $4.75 million led by Bengaluru-headquartered venture capital (VC) Exfinity Venture Partners. This round also had participation from Vietnam-based Big Capital, the venture arm of Bitexco and Log9 Materials. Existing investors like Kalaari Capital and CIIE.CO also joined. 

Founded in 2019 by Bhaktha Keshavachar, Ravi Prasad Sharma, and Mahalingam Koushik, the deep-tech start-up raised 0.85 million in a seed funding round led by Kalaari Capital in 2021. CIIE.CO also participated in the investment round. 

In a company statement, Chara claims that it is developing a scalable, cloud-controlled and rare-earth-free platform to design electric motors for EV, HVAC and various other applications. So far it has built motors for two-wheelers (hub and mid hub), three and four-wheelers LCV and HVAC use cares. The company has conducted the field test of these motors and their controllers and is expecting to launch these products in the latter part of this year. Additionally, the company has stated that it has multiple projects lined up for this year. 

Commenting on the deal, Bhaktha Keshavachar, founder and CEO of Chara Technologies, said, “ We are working towards turning the current motor tech on its head, doing away with inefficient and rare-earth-dependent practices. We are building rare-earth-free, hyper-efficient, cost-effective, intelligent motors and controllers for EV, HVAC, and other industries. We are very excited to work with Exfinity, BigCapital, Log9, Kalaari, and CIIE to bring cutting-edge technology to OEMs in India and in the future to the world.”

Speaking on the fund raised, Chinnu Senthilkumar, managing partner ( MP) at  Exfinity, said, " We found that the Chara founding team is exemplary in this regard. Exfinity strongly believes that the EV story for South Asia and similar markets has to be contextualised and not replicated from the US and European markets. After our earlier investment in Log 9 Materials, Chara is part of our continued belief in this thesis. Chara Motors is also a great example for Atmanirbhar Bharat as it delinks the permanent magnet supply chain dependency from China and other countries."

Addressing the investment, Preetinder Singh Panjrath, CFO of BIG Capital, said, “As part of our commitment to environmentally friendly solutions for land and aerospace markets we were especially attracted to Chara motors with the focus on rare earth-free electric motors that are safer for the planet, more cost-efficient and offers better efficiency compared to the legacy solutions. We are delighted to be part of Chara motors' journey to not only power the EV and Power Market but also do so in an environmentally responsible way.”