Lithium has become the default option for batteries powered by systems, but its restrictions-from volatile supply chains to short life-are increasingly difficult to ignore. OffGrid Energy LabsA deep -based deep -based start -up wants to make lithium less central, especially when it comes to storing batteries.
The 7-year startup, incubated in Iit Kanpur, has developed a privately owned zinc-bromine-based battery system as an alternative to lithium ion technology. Named Zincgel, it delivers 80-90% of the energy efficiency of conventional lithium batteries, but at significantly lower storage costs, the start.
As power demand increases worldwide, countries are increasing efforts to expand renewable energy storage. India, as a prominent nation in this respect, aims to increase its non-fossil energy capacity ten times-from 50 gigawatts to 500 gigawatts – by 2030. New Delhi is also Target 236 Gigawatt-Hours Battery power storage capacity by 2031-32 and announced a € 54 billion funding plan (about $ 612 million) in June to develop 30 Gigawatt-Hour battery storage systems in the country. However, like many global markets, India faces a key challenge: China’s domination over the lithium supply chain.
OffGrid Energy Labs bets that zinc battery technology can facilitate power restrictions using widely available materials and offering a more cost -effective alternative to lithium -based systems.
Now, the launch has raised $ 15 million in funding in Series A to increase its activities. It plans to build a 10-megawatt-Hour demonstration unit in the United Kingdom, is expected to be ready until the first quarter of 2026 and start marketing Zincgel in the quarters that follow-with a gigafactory in India designed until the next phase.
“Not only do we have to face a gap in the market in terms of the application, but we should also make it economically viable because there have been technologies and batteries in the past worldwide, but they are so accurate that they are not widely adopted,” said Tejas Kusurkar, co -founder.
Kusurkar, who has a doctorate from Iit Kanpur, founded the Offgrid Energy Labs in 2018 at the Institute’s incubation and innovation center, along with Brindan Tulachan (also a doctorate from Iit Kanpur), Rishi Srivastava and Ankur Agarwal. The team noticed that while the lithium batteries are suitable for mobility, the immovable storage market was inadequate-and the necessary batteries that are safer, more durable and built in a supply chain that is easier to access, Kusurkar told Techcrunch.
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The start has passed the first six years of battery development and has so far secured more than 25 IP families and over 50 IP assets in all markets, including the United States, the United Kingdom and India, as well as China, Australia and Japan. The battery is based on the zinc-bromine chemistry with a privately owned water-based electrolyte, resulting in a low risk of fire.
Zincgel is also capable of handling larger discharges (6-12 hours) many times throughout its lifetime and can last twice as long as a standard lithium-ion battery, Kusurkar said. In addition, the battery uses a carbon -based descent for both fast and discharge.
Zinc in batteries is not a new idea, and some companies have already provided zinc-based batteries, including Nasdaq-Listed EOS ENERGY ENTERPRISES. However, Kusurkar noted that Offgrid Energy Labs uses patent -patented assets that help reduce costs. Zincgel batteries can also reduce the need to use toner, which helps reduce their production costs.
“Finally, customers are interested in the same performance, better price or better performance, the same price,” Srivastava told TechCrunch.
OffGrid Energy Labs technology is also designed to allow the battery to be modified or sub-enclosed. This means that these zinc batteries can operate independently of environmental conditions and provide energy storage even at temperatures as low as minus 10 degrees Celsius, Srivastava said.
The start is targeting industries with pure zero targets that want to maximize the use of renewable energy sources by incorporating battery storage. Its batteries are also investigated for applications such as peak shift and decentralized, off -network energy solutions. Shell – who invested in the offGid during his seed around the company’s corporate arm – and Tata Power is among the early testers. The start is also in talks with world players, including the ENEL team in Europe, to develop batteries tailored to their specific cases of use.
So far, Offgrid Energy Labs has manufactured its battery technology in a tinkering workshop on Uttar Pradesh’s Noida. However, the start plans to use its installation in the United Kingdom to prove its technology to the first customers of next year.
The UK installation will have a carbon footprint 50% lower than that of a standard gigafactory lithium battery, Srivastava said, adding that the start has chosen simpler production processes to reduce both capital and operating costs.
Asked why the United Kingdom – and not India – was chosen for its first installation, Srivastava said Europe is offering a powerful ecosystem and is already a battery node. The start is already co -founded by Kusurkar and Tulachan based in the United Kingdom to help with local businesses. However, the start considers India as one of its main markets as soon as the batteries are ready for commercialization in 2026.
The round of series A was driven by Archean Chemicals, a Chennai -based special chemical manufacturer, which now holds a 21% share of the start, along with Ankur Capital’s participation.
Srivastava told TechCrunch that Archean’s involvement is a strategy of alignment, as the company has been introduced to the public has significant experience in managing the manufacturing and supply chain.
The start is valued at about $ 58 million after money.
