The round saw participation from Navam Capital, Anicut, Speciale Invest, Micelio Mobility and IIMA Ventures.Battery technology startup e-TRNL Energy has raised ₹27.4 crore in a seed funding round led by IAN Alpha Fund, with participation from Navam Capital, Anicut, Speciale Invest, Micelio Mobility and IIMA Ventures.
The round also saw participation from angel investors including Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, co-founders of Ather Energy.
Founded in 2021 by Apoorv Shaligram and Dr. Uttam Kumar Sen, e-TRNL Energy is building lithium-ion battery cells using a chemistry-agnostic, physics-based approach aimed at improving safety, fast-charging capability, cycle life and energy density.
The Mumbai-based startup said the fresh capital will be used to complete product development and demonstrate lithium-ion cell manufacturing capability at scale in India. The validation process will focus on performance, safety, consistency and repeatability.
“With this funding round, we move towards demonstration, testing and scaling our innovation for commercialisation. Beyond positioning India as a leader in energy storage innovations, these efforts will also strengthen our resilience against global supply chain vulnerabilities,” said co-founder and CEO Apoorv Shaligram
The company has developed its own manufacturing technology and machinery in-house, spanning cell design, manufacturing processes and automation systems. It plans to begin commercial manufacturing with a pilot line of 250 MWh per year, with a roadmap to scale capacity to 2 GWh annually.
“India’s energy transition will depend not just on adopting batteries, but on owning core cell design and manufacturing capabilities. What stood out with e-TRNL Energy was their first-principles rethink of cell architecture and manufacturing, rather than incremental upgrades to legacy designs,” said Rajnish Kapur, managing partner, IAN Alpha Fund.
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