Singapore EV Battery Startup Oyika Raises $8.75 Million

Singapore-based smart power exchange startup Oyika has closed a new round of funding from BPIN, the investment arm of Thai smart energy firm Banpu Next, regulatory filings show, according to foreign media reports.

Oyika's filing with Singapore's Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) shows that Banpu Next will invest $8.75 million in Oyika as part of its Series B funding round. As part of the terms of the investment, Kannapon Rungsithum, vice president of investments at Banpu Next, will join Oyika's board of directors.

Oyika's current round of financing also includes the allotment of $2 million worth of shares to Yinson Holdings, a Malaysian storage services provider, as part of a convertible note agreement to be signed in September 2022. Yinson is an existing shareholder of Oyika.

These placements bring Oyika's total Series B financing to $10.75 million to date. ACRA filings indicate that Oyika plans to raise an additional $10 million from other investors as part of the current round. In 2021, Oyika announced that the company is seeking to raise $100 million in external funding to support its expansion in Vietnam and to launch an electric motorcycle power exchange service. In the same year, Clime Capital, a Singapore-based investment management firm, provided an undisclosed amount of funding to the startup.

Oyika was founded in May 2018 by Lee Wong and Carl Wong, who also created an online education startup called Postkid in the early 21st century, which was later acquired by Singapore-listed Horizon Education and Technologies.