• StoreDot, an Israeli next-generation battery startup, has secured an investment from Ola Electric, an Indian EV manufacturer, as part of the company’s Series D funding round. The amount was undisclosed.

• The proceeds will be used to fund R&D activities of StoreDot’s extreme fast charging (XFC) battery cells, which are expected to enter mass production by 2024, reaching 100 miles with a five-minute charge. StoreDot is also working on a “two-minute charge” technology, which it expects to commercialize within the next 10 years.

• The investment enables Ola Electric to manufacture EV batteries by integrating StoreDot’s proprietary XFC technology. StoreDot also plans to deploy a gigafactory to produce battery cells for Ola’s Futurefactory in India.

<ul><li> Analyst QuickTake: Earlier in the year, StoreDot raised USD 80 million as the first tranche of its Series D round, led by VinFast, the electric vehicle manufacturing arm of the Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup. StoreDot unveiled its XFC prototype in September 2021. The prototype could fully charge in 10 minutes, but this was longer than the 5 minutes it had promised. Since then, StoreDot has taken several measures to strengthen its R&D activities, including the launch of an innovation hub in the US and collaboration with Group14 Technologies to improve the technology. The new funds will further these R&D efforts.</ul>