Cleantech startup Log 9 raises Series A from Sequoia Surge, Exfinity

Bengaluru-headquartered cleantech company Log 9 Materials has raised approximately $3.5 million in a Series A funding round from Sequoia Capital India’s accelerator programme Surge and Exfinity Venture Partners.

The company was one of the 12 startups selected for Surge’s second cohort announced earlier this month. 

Log 9 will utilise the funds for product development and commercial and industrial deployment of its aluminium fuel cell in stationary and automotive applications as a clean energy alternative.

“We will be using the amount to propel development and deployment of our flagship project on aluminium-air fuel cells, which is currently in the optimisation stage. Our endeavour will be to accelerate modifications in the product development cycle so as to create a commercially viable product for both electric vehicles (EVs) as well as stationary applications. We are confident of rolling it out in the market in the next 18-24 months,” said Akshay Singhal, CEO, Log 9 Materials in a statement.

Singhal, an IIT Roorkee alumnus, founded the company in 2015 as part of the TIDES incubation centre at the institute. The company had earlier raised approximately $460,000 in an extended seed round from a group of investors including Hemant Luthra, chairman at auto-parts maker Mahindra CIE in July.

In June, the company, which commercialises the use of graphene nanotechnology-based solutions, had created a subsidiary Log 9 Spill Containment which raised funds from a group of angel investors. The subsidiary focuses on developing solutions for containment and absorption of oil and chemical spills.

“Given that the government also has the ambition to introduce EV as the mainstream mobility solution, Log 9 will accelerate the country’s transition to the EV world. Exfinity has always strived to back entrepreneurs and businesses with innovative ideas that challenge the status quo and Log 9 fits the bill perfectly,” said Shailesh Ghorpade, CIO and managing partner, Exfinity Venture Partners, in the statement.