Orxa Energies raises pre-series A round from Lectrix – SAR Group’s e-mobility arm

Explore

Bengaluru-based high-performance electric vehicle and energy systems start-up Orxa Energies has closed its Pre-Series A round of funding and announced its strategic collaboration with Lectrix E-Vehicles Pvt Ltd, the EV arm of the SAR group. ‘This collaboration will accelerate the launch of Orxa’s flagship high-performance electric motorcycle – The Mantis. It will also prime the company’s debut in other electric mobility markets by symbiotically working on several early-stage technologies’, said a statement. The quantum of investment was not shared by the company.

SAR group is an industry player in energy storage and clean energy technologies, and the collaboration will give Orxa access to the former’s 35-year-old prowess in developing and producing batteries and EV drivetrains.

Orxa is currently setting up its new manufacturing unit on the outskirts of Bengaluru. The company aims to enable pre-orders within the next 9-12months. Orxa has been generating revenues since 2018 and has been growing 6x YoY from its B2B business. The company has raised three rounds of external funding so far.

Founded by Dr. Prajwal Sabnis and Ranjita Ravi in 2015, Orxa has a future target of 500km and 1000km range electric motorcycles. Earlier this year, the Mantis undertook the Electric Bharatmala ride. Two Mantis motorcycles covered 13,510 km each in 54 days across diverse environments and myriad operating conditions. This distance was longer than the current World Record for the longest distance covered by an electric motorcycle which stands at 12,379 km. 

“Entering into a partnership with Lectrix at this critical juncture in the Mantis product cycle will drive the accelerated manufacturing readiness for commercial production. With access to Lectrix’s experience and network, we will be able to accelerate our launch and go to market,’’ says Dr. Prajwal Sabnis, Co-Founder of Orxa Energies.

“We are simultaneously growing our lean team by nearly 5 times in the coming months, with a focus to strengthen our engineering muscle, and developing similar teams in Production, Quality Control, Supply Chain, and Marketing. In the last few months, we have added 25% to our team and by October 2022, we will have doubled our team size,” added Ranjita Ravi, Co-Founder, Orxa Energies

“When we first met Orxa Energies several years ago, we recognized their vision of disrupting the status quo in a very large and traditional market – the Indian Automotive sector. Over the last few years, Orxa has created a well-architected and full-stack solution for EVs and this is closely aligned with our vision at Lectrix EV,” said K Vijaya Kumar, MD & CEO, Lectrix EV. “The passion of the young founders and their team clearly translates into the Mantis through its performance and also in its underlying technology. This reinforced our confidence in their ability to execute a disruptive solution for one of the world’s most pressing challenges, and we are therefore glad and look forward to working with Orxa on multiple early-stage EV technologies,” he added, explaining the motivation to build this collaboration with Orxa.