Tiger New Energy (Tiger), a Bangladesh, South Asia clean energy startup, recently introduced battery-swapping technology for three-wheelers in the country. Tiger said its proprietary offline swapping and reverse charging features ensure service continuity during power outages, while its infrastructure doubles as Decentralised Energy Storage Systems (DESS), contributing to grid stability. According to Tiger, advanced thermal management and data-driven optimization algorithms further elevate the performance and lifespan of Tiger’s lithium-ion batteries over traditional alternatives.

ADB Ventures provided Tiger with an additional $1 million in funding, augmenting the $2.5 million seed round led by Wavemaker Partners last year. According to Tiger, this investment accelerates the deployment of its battery-swapping network across Bangladesh.

Harvard Business School alumni Nicole Mao and Yiwei Zhu said they founded Tiger New Energy to address the issues of carbon emissions and energy inefficiency in Bangladesh’s urban transportation sector. Approximately four million electric three-wheelers and vehicles transport over 112 million people daily across the country. However, the company says the use of low-quality lead-acid batteries hinders these modes of transportation from being as efficient as necessary. Tiger said this is why it introduced a network of stations where rickshaw drivers can swap depleted batteries for fully charged ones in less than one minute compared to four hours previously. This reduces downtime and has been shown to amplify the earnings of rickshaw drivers by 60%, according to Tiger.

Wavemaker Partners led the funding round with participation from ADB Ventures. The round’s other investors include 500 TukTuks, Orvel Ventures, Humble, Penataran Management, Brett Barna, the founder of the Barna Family Office, an undisclosed Singaporean Family Office, and an undisclosed angel investor.

With this investment, Tiger said it plans to expand its network beyond 100 battery-swapping stations to empower over 10,000 rickshaw drivers. The funds will also enhance talent acquisition, spur research and development, and facilitate the exploration of new regional markets, according to Tiger.