Monthly roundup · Automotive & EVs · September 2026

Automotive & EVs startup funding, September 2026: Simple Energy's $180M Series C leads 11 rounds

By Millionrounds ResearchPublished 1 October 2026Updated 17 October 2026

We read 11 equity rounds in Automotive & EVs announced in September 2026, raising $657M between them: 3% of all the rounds we read that month and 2% of the money. The largest was Simple Energy's $180M Series C, led by Dr. Arokiaswamy Velumani Family Office. The median seed round was $674K, against $5.5M over the last twelve months across all sectors.

Equity rounds11in Automotive & EVs, 11 with an amount
Raised$657Macross those rounds
Lead named91%of rounds say who led
Share of the month3%of rounds; 2% of the money

The biggest rounds

  1. 1Simple EnergySeries C · India · led by Dr. Arokiaswamy Velumani Family Office$180M
  2. 2SemiDriveSeries C · China$150M
  3. 3SiMa.aiSeries C · United States · led by Fidelity, Amplify Partners$150M
  4. 4Amber ElectricSeries E · Australia · led by 1GT, Morgan Stanley Investment Management's 1GT$56M
  5. 5Ultraviolette AutomotiveSeries E · India · led by TDK Ventures, Yali Capital$39M
  6. 6AARC RideGrowth · Kenya · led by Novastar Ventures, Norrsken22$33M
  7. 7Beep, Inc.Series B · United States$20M
  8. 8DDYUPre-Series B · China · led by Tongxin Capital$15M
  9. 9CCarrum MobilitySeries B · India · led by Alven$10M
  10. 10DepotchargePre-seed · Germany · led by HTGF High-Tech Gründerfonds$3.1M

Day by day

Equity rounds in Automotive & EVs announced each day of September. The busiest day was 9 September, with 3.

1 September30 September

By stage, against the year

Each stage's median this month beside its twelve-month median: the sector's own where we hold enough rounds for a benchmark, otherwise the one across all sectors.

Pre-seed1$3.1Mthis month$2.0M12 months, all sectors
Seed1$674Kthis month$5.5M12 months, all sectors
Series B2$15Mthis month$50M12 months, all sectors
Series C3$150Mthis month$100M12 months, all sectors
Growth1$33Mthis month$113M12 months, all sectors

Where

India had the most Automotive & EVs rounds this month.

Against the month

  • Rounds, Automotive & EVs11
  • Rounds, all sectors357
  • Raised, Automotive & EVs$657M
  • Raised, all sectors$39B

The whole of September 2026

Other sectors in September

195 roundsAI→51 roundsFintech→39 roundsHealthcare→30 roundsBig Data & Analytics→27 roundsBiotech→25 roundsRobotics→24 roundsCybersecurity→23 roundsHardware & Electronics→22 roundsEnterprise Software→21 roundsSoftware→21 roundsEnergy→21 roundsConstruction→20 roundsHealthtech→20 roundsSaaS→19 roundsLogistics→17 roundsManufacturing→16 roundsCleantech→14 roundsAerospace & Space→14 roundsDefence Tech→13 roundsTelecoms→13 roundsSemiconductors→13 roundsClimate Tech→10 roundsCloud→