AI-enabled energy management platform Ionage has raised $1.3 million in pre-Series A funding to expand its electric vehicle charging network coverage and strengthen interoperability across India’s fragmented EV charging ecosystem.
The funding round was led by strategic investors and a consortium of CXOs from global energy and infrastructure companies. Ionage plans to use the capital to expand its platform coverage to 100% of active charger networks in India, improve charger discovery and payment capabilities for EV users, and help small and medium-sized charge point operators (CPOs) establish and manage charging stations more efficiently.
Ionage operates an asset-light software and interoperability platform that connects large charging networks, SME CPOs, restaurants, fuel station operators, real-estate developers, housing societies and commercial fleets. The company describes its model as a common infrastructure layer for EV charging, similar to the interoperability enabled by UPI across different banks.
The company has onboarded more than 25,000 four-wheeler charging points and supports 63+ fleets across India. Its ecosystem includes more than 75 charging partners, supported by national charger mapping and roaming capabilities.
Ionage said it is targeting a monthly energy throughput of more than 20 million units within the next 12 months, supported by month-on-month growth of over 25%.
The platform currently operates across more than 70% of India’s charging hardware and integrates with major EV charger manufacturers at the installation stage. Its solutions are deployed across offices, shopping malls, hospitality facilities and residential housing societies, covering 33 states and Union Territories and nearly 3,000 cities.
Ionage also plans to develop and support new CPO micro-clusters in Tier 2 urban centres over the next 18 months, as it looks to improve charging availability and accessibility beyond major metropolitan markets.
The company offers a suite of products including Nexus, a CPO operations platform; the IONAGE App for charger discovery, trip planning, charging and payments; Flo, a CPO-fleet discovery marketplace; and CASA, a home charging management solution. It is also testing a Discovery API and business SDK in closed beta.
Ionage has begun incorporating artificial intelligence and machine learning into its platform to support intelligent load balancing and energy trading across its charger network.
According to the company, India’s public EV charging network continues to face challenges around charger availability, discoverability, standardisation, interoperability and payment fragmentation. Ionage aims to address these issues by creating a common infrastructure layer that allows EV drivers to discover, access and pay for chargers across multiple networks.
The company cited industry estimates indicating that India could require more than 1.32 million public chargers by 2030 to support over 30 million electric two-wheelers and four-wheelers. Ionage sees the expected expansion of charging infrastructure, along with government programmes and standardisation initiatives, as a major opportunity for its interoperable charging platform.
Vimal Kumar V, Co-founder and CEO of Ionage, said the company aims to create a common operating layer across charging networks so that EV users can reliably locate, access and pay for chargers regardless of who owns or operates the infrastructure.
