ION Energy raises $3.6M from Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund

ION Energy, an advanced electronics and software supplier for electric vehicles and energy storage systems has raised $3.6 million in Pre-Series A funding from Amazon's $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund (CPF), joined by Silicon Valley-based Climate Capital, early-stage investor YourNest Venture Capital, Riso Capital, Venture Catalyst, and other angel investors.

The investment in ION Energy marks Amazon Climate Pledge Fund's first investment outside the US.

Commenting on the latest investment, Akhil Aryan, Co-founder, and CEO of ION Energy said: "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 are 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."

As per ION, the latest funding will be utilized for growing the ION team to 150+ members (from the current 70), invest in product development, and expand the software business in North America and Europe.

As part of the round, Anup Menon, Head of Strategy & Emerging Technology at Bank of America will join ION's Board of Directors.

"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, ultimately scaling solutions that help us all achieve our ambitious climate goals," said Kara Hurst, vice president and head of Worldwide Sustainability at Amazon.

The online retail giant launched the $2 billion corporate venture capital fund in 2020 with the intention of investing in companies that will help accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy. The initial sectoral focus of the fund has been to support companies in food and agriculture, circular economy, renewable energy and technology; energy generation, storage and utilization; manufacturing and materials, and transport and logistics.

To date, Amazon has invested in several companies across multiple sectors. Some of these companies include Infinium, Redwood Materials, Rivian, and ZeroAvia.

ION Energy has a global presence across 15 countries including France, India, Spain, and the U.S. More recently, the company entered a partnership with a Spanish electric scooter startup, Ray Electric Motors. To date, ION Energy has deployed 60,000 smart battery management system (BMS) in EVs and stationary storage systems.