Sanjiv Malhotra founded Oorja raises $500,000

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Bangalore: Oorja, a maker of Methanol-based fuel cells to charge batteries for forklifts, pallet loaders and other industrial vehicles, has raised $500,000 in convertible promissory notes. With this round of funding, the company has raised about $21.5 million to date from Sequoia Capital, DAG Ventures, Artis Capital Management, McKenna Management, Northshore Partners and Spring Ventures, reports VentureBeat. Founded in 2004 and based in Fremont, California, Oorja schedules to sell its product to vehicles - making it easier to deploy them and service them as needed. To do this, the company has initiated two incentive programs for dealers. The Master Dealers program allows local dealers to sell and maintain Oorja products. In return, for comprehensive knowledge of its fuel cells, these individuals can profit from the services they provide. The Referral Dealer Program compensates other dealers in local territories that refer their clients to Master Dealers. Currently, there are about 11-50 employees in the company. According to the company, its flagship product OorjaPac generates clean, reliable energy for charging batteries on material handling vehicles. The OorjaPac operates on inexpensive liquid methanol fuel and emits only clean water and a minimal amount of CO2 (Carbondioxide). The company received a purchase order from Super Store Industries (SSI) for installing the OorjaPac on SSI's entire material handling fleet operating in the freezer at its Lathrop facility. Sanjiv Malhotra, Founder, President and CEO of Oorja said, "In our transition to commercializing the OorjaPac within the food and dairy industry, we see this relationship with SSI as a very strong one." Also, the OorjaPac has been adopted by several Fortune 50 companies in industries such as manufacturing, food distribution, and logistics.