IAN Group has led a Rs 27.4 crore seed funding round in e-TRNL Energy through its IAN Alpha Fund, backing the cleantech startup’s efforts to build next-generation battery cell technology. The round also drew participation from Navam Capital, Speciale Invest, along with other investors.
Founded in 2021 by Apoorv Shaligram (Co-founder & CEO) and Dr. Uttam Kumar Sen (Co-founder & CTO), e-TRNL Energy is working to redesign battery cell architecture and manufacturing processes from the ground up, instead of relying on incremental improvements to traditional chemistries. According to the company, this first-principles approach reduces heat generation, enables faster charging, extends battery lifecycle, and improves energy density, while also enhancing manufacturing efficiency and cost economics.
The newly secured capital will be deployed to finalize product development, validate performance and safety parameters, and demonstrate manufacturing capability within India. The company has already established a 20,000 sq ft R&D and early-stage manufacturing facility in Bengaluru. It has received two patents for its battery cell design and has filed additional patent applications to strengthen its intellectual property portfolio.
Looking ahead, e-TRNL Energy plans to set up a 250 MWh pilot manufacturing facility by 2027, with a longer-term roadmap to scale capacity to 2 GWh. Its initial product will be built on LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) chemistry, followed by plans to develop LMFP and sodium-ion battery technologies targeting electric mobility and energy storage applications.
“Over the past three years, we have built a ground-breaking cell design along with the machines and processes required to realise it. This funding helps us move toward demonstration, testing and commercial scale-up,” said Apoorv Shaligram, Co-founder & CEO, e-TRNL Energy.
Rajnish Kapur, Managing Partner, IAN Alpha Fund, said India’s energy transition will depend on owning core cell design and manufacturing capabilities. “What stood out was e-TRNL’s first-principles rethink of cell architecture and manufacturing, addressing performance, safety and cost in an integrated way,” he said.
India’s battery cell market is projected to expand to nearly 400 GWh annually by 2035, though it continues to rely heavily on imports. e-TRNL Energy aims to address this gap by developing indigenous cell designs and in-house manufacturing equipment, with the objective of lowering capital expenditure and building stronger supply-chain resilience within the country.
