Kazam secures $8 Million in Series A3 Funding led by Vertex Ventures SEA & India

The E-mobility Startup has also launched First-of-its-Kind LEV-DC Fast Charging Solution, Capable of Charging an Electric Scooter Up to 80% in Just 20 Minutes

Mumbai, August 12, 2024 – Kazam, Global Technology Enabler for e-Mobility, has successfully raised $8 million in its Series A3 funding round, led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India. The funding round also saw participation from Avaana Capital, Alteria Capital, and several other notable investors.

With less than 5% penetration, the Indian Electric Vehicle (EV) market is poised for disruptive growth in the next few years. To support this rapid expansion and address range anxiety, a scalable EV infrastructure is essential. Kazam aims to tackle this challenge with its software and hardware solutions, designed to support Charge Point Operators, Fleet Operators, and Electricity Grids. The startup’s innovative approach aims to digitise the entire e-mobility value chain, from managing grid energy to fueling EVs and overseeing fleet operations.

With the fresh influx of capital, Kazam plans to bolster its technology and product teams, enhance its platform offerings, and expand its market presence.

“We are thrilled to have the support of Vertex Ventures SEA & India and our other esteemed investors as we continue our mission to democratise and digitise EV infrastructure,” said Akshay Shekhar, Co-Founder & CEO of Kazam. “We have grown 10x on our monthly transactions and EV km fuelled in the last 12 months. This investment will enable us to accelerate our growth, innovate further, and maintain our leadership position in the e-mobility sector.”

Nikhil Marwaha, Senior Executive Director, Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India said “Kazam's full-stack platform offers best-in-class solutions for OEMs, fleet operators and asset owners to effectively manage their EV charging infrastructure needs. With EV adoption in India expected to rise manifold, Kazam’s ‘charging in a box’ solution becomes extremely critical to debottleneck the creation of a reliable EV charging network. The Kazam team is extremely customer-oriented, and this is clearly visible through all our interactions with their customers.”

Adding to this, Swapna Gupta, Partner, Avaana Capital said “Kazam with its dogged focus on easing EV adoption has successfully built one of the largest global charging platforms for electric mobility in a very short period. Addressing range anxiety, Kazam has created a reliable energy management platform for OEMs, CPOs, Utilities, Fleet Operators, and Online Commerce, offering charging at their fingertips.”

She further added, “It has been gratifying to witness their accelerated growth from close quarters, and we are delighted to have Vertex Ventures SEA & India join us to further fuel their expansion.”

Kazam’s software enables a diverse range of vehicles, including two-wheelers, commercial electric vehicles (CEV) three-wheelers, and city buses, serving more than 25,000 charging points. They recently launched the first-of-its-kind LEV-DC, a fast charging option for electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers that can charge an electric scooter up to 80% in 20 minutes. This is in addition to their existing 3.3 KW LEV-AC charging solution.

The company currently fuels over 15 million EV kilometres per month, with 10% of its contributions coming from international clients across the Global South. Kazam's impact in the EV charging landscape is evident through partnerships with industry giants like BigBasket, Zypp, Mahindra Logistics and many other third-party logistics facilitating 1 million transactions and integrating over 25,500 EV charging devices in the last 12 months. Notably, Kazam's reach extends to major vehicle OEMs including Bajaj, Ather, TVS, Hero MotoCorp, Mahindra, and Ultraviolette.

In addition, Kazam has recently partnered with Google Maps to enhance EV charging infrastructure across India by integrating navigation features for EV charge points and providing detailed information about charger types, making EV charging even more accessible and convenient for users.

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About Kazam

Launched in 2020, Kazam is a pioneering e-mobility startup that offers device-agnostic solutions to  EV charging & battery swapping operators, vehicle OEMs, fleet operators, and electricity grid companies. Through its innovative software and hardware solutions, Kazam empowers operators and vehicle owners to control, manage, and analyze their fueling assets, effectively addressing the critical issue of range anxiety and making EV charging more accessible across India.

The company was co-founded by Akshay Shekhar, CEO, and Vaibhav Tyagi, CTO, with a vision to revolutionize the EV landscape globally. Kazam is also a Founding Alliance Member of the Unified Energy Interface (UEI), a UPI-like software for the energy sector, powered by the Beckn Protocol.

For more information, please visit: www.kazam.in.

About Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India (VVSEAI)

Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India partners with founders who are creating innovative, transformative and scalable businesses. It has a long and strong track record of investing in early-stage startups and building champions like Grab, PatSnap, Nium, FirstCry, XPressBees, Licious, 17LIVE, and others. VVSEAI supports its portfolio companies with unmatched operating experience and deep access to the capital, talent, partners and customers they need to build truly global businesses. VVSEAI is one of seven major funds in the Vertex Global Network which includes Vertex Ventures Israel, Vertex Ventures China, Vertex Ventures US, Vertex Ventures Japan, Vertex Ventures HC and Vertex Growth. These funds each focus on investments in their region and industry specialisation. With the combined regional expertise and global reach, each team can leverage the Vertex Platform to get a broad view of innovation and share learning experiences across the world.

For more information, please visit: https://www.vertexventures.sg  

About Avaana Capital

Avaana Capital manages Avaana Climate and Sustainability Fund, India’s first and largest climate-tech venture capital fund, investing in future market leaders who are leveraging technology-led innovation to build and scale solutions for climate and sustainability while delivering exponential returns. Avaana invests in climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience across thematic areas of Energy transition and Resource Management, Mobility and Supply chains, and Sustainable agriculture and food systems.

Avaana's portfolio features climate-focused startups such as Eeki Foods, Aerem, FarMart, Turno, and Terra.do, Sentra, Ninety One, Eggoz, etc. Avaana’s Team has previously made investments in category leaders like Delhivery, Nykaa, Urban Company, ShadowFax, NinjaCart, Moveinsync, and Stellapps among others.

For more information, please visit: https://avaanacapital.com/.

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