Amazon Climate Pledge Fund makes first India investment with ION Energy

Amazon was joined by Silicon Valley-based Climate Capital, early-stage investor YourNest Venture Capital, Riso Capital, Venture Catalysts, among other angel investors.

According to ION Energy, the new funds will be used to grow the team, as it looks to double its head count. The startup is also expected to use the proceeds from the current round for product development, and expand its software business across North America and Europe.

As part of the round, Anup Menon, head of strategy and emerging technology at Bank of America will join ION’s board of directors.

“Globally, we believe 2021 will be the inflection point for the new energy transition as both companies and governments come together towards reducing carbon emissions. At ION, we’re confident that advanced electronics and software that help enterprises accelerate this transition will become mission-critical to meet our goals of a zero-carbon future,” says Akhil Aryan, co-founder and chief executive officer of ION Energy.

The five-year-old startup is headquartered in India, with operations in France and the US. ION’s flagship offering is a smart battery management platform (BMS) that leverages proprietary algorithms to improve battery life and performance. The battery management platform is typically sold as a product or a technology license to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that are developing lithium-ion batteries or electric vehicles.

“As the world accelerates towards zero emissions and renewable resources, efficient energy storage is becoming a critical part of the holistic solution. ION’s comprehensive offering of battery management, electronics, intelligence and analytics technology is already helping over 75 customers worldwide. We are more than happy to partner with ION’s innovative team,” said Dr Vivek Mansingh, general partner, YourNest.

At present, ION works with more than 75 customers in the mobility and energy industry across 15 countries, including India, France, Spain and the US. Since inception, ION’s customers have deployed 60,000 smart battery management systems in electric vehicles and stationary storage systems.

“As we continue to identify visionary companies whose products and solutions will facilitate the transition to a low-carbon economy, we’re proud to invest in ION Energy, our first investment in India through the $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund. We are inspired by ION’s mission to build technologies that improve the life and performance of lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles and energy storage systems,” said Kara Hurst, vice president and head of worldwide sustainability at Amazon Inc.

Amazon launched The Climate Pledge Fund in 2020, a $2 billion fund to support companies developing sustainable technologies for a zero-carbon future. Till date, Amazon, through its climate fund has invested in visionary companies across industries including BETA Technologies, CarbonCure Technologies, Infinium, Pachama, Redwood Materials, Rivian, TurnTide, and ZeroAvia.