Lithium has become a default option for battery-powered systems, but it is becoming difficult to surprise from the boundaries-from the stable supply chains to the shorter lifetime. Offgrid energy labsA deep technical startup located in India wants to make lithium less central, especially when it comes to battery storage.
The 7-year-old startup, a 7-year-old startup at IIT Kanpur, has developed a ownership zinc-bomine-based battery system as an alternative to lithium-ion technology. The startup stated that it is called Jincgel, it saves 80–90% of the energy efficiency of the traditional lithium battery, but at a very low level of storage, the startup said.
As the demand for electricity increases worldwide, countries are increasing efforts to expand renewable energy storage. India, as a major nation in this regard, has to increase its non-living energy capacity by ten times-from 50 gigawatts to 500 gigawatt – By 2030. New Delhi is also 236 GHzwatt-hour target Battery energy storage capacity by 2031-32 and announced a 54 billion (about $ 612 million) funding plan in June to develop 30 GW-hour battery storage systems in the country. However, like many global markets, India faced a significant challenge: China’s dominance on the Lithium Supply Series.
Offgrid Energy Labs is betting that its zinc battery technology can reduce the lack of supply by using widely available materials and offering a more cost-effective option for lithium-based systems.
Now, the startup has raised $ 15 million in series A funding to increase its operation. It plans to construct a 10-megavot-hour performance facility in the UK, which is expected to be prepared by the first quarter of 2026, and starts commercialization of Jincgel in a gigafctor as well as a gigafactor in India as planned.
“Not only should we address a difference in the market from an application point of view, but we should also make it financially viable, as the past has technologies and batteries globally, which are solutions, but they are so expensive that they have not been adopted widely,” said the co-faler and CEO of Offgrid Energy Labs.
Kusurkar, who has a PhD from IIT Kanpur, co-install the offgride energy labs at the Institute’s Startup Incubation and Innovation Center in 2018, as well as Bindon Tulcha (PhD from IIT Kanpur), Rishi Srivastava, and Ankur Agarwal. The team noticed that while the lithium battery is well suited to dynamics, the stable storage market was reduced-and the battery was required that is safe, more flexible, and manufactured on a supply chain that is easy to reach, Kusurkar told Tekkachch.
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The startup spent its first six years to develop battery technology and so far secured more than 25 IP families and more than 50 IP assets in markets including the US, Britain and India as well as China, Australia and Japan. The battery is based on zinc-bomide chemistry with an ownership water-based electrolyte, resulting in a low risk of fire.
Kusurkar said that Jincgel is capable of handling long discharges (6–12 hours) several times during his lifetime and can live twice as a specific lithium ion battery. In addition, the battery uses carbon-based cathode for both fast charging and discharging.
Zinc in the battery is not a new concept, and some companies have already offered zinc-bomide-based batteries, including a nasdac list. EOS Energy EnterprisesHowever, Kusurkar stated that offgrid energy labs use their patented property that helps reduce costs. The ginkgel battery can also reduce the need to use graphite, which helps reduce their production costs.
“Finally, customers care about the same performance, better price, or better performance, the same price,” Srivastava told Techcrunch.
The technology of offgrid energy labs is also designed to allow the battery to be tickling or sub-confined based on the application. This means that these zinc batteries can be operated independently of environmental conditions and can also provide energy storage at temperature, as minus 10 ° C, Srivastava said.
Startup is targeting industries with net-zero goals that want to maximize renewable energy usage by integrating battery storage. Its battery is also being detected for applications such as summit shifting and decentralized, off-grid energy solutions. Shell – who invests in offgrid during its seed round through its corporate venture arm – and Tata Power is one of the initial examiners. The beginning is in interaction with global players, including the ENEL group of Europe, to develop batteries to suit their specific use cases.
So far, Offgrid Energy Labs has manually built its battery technology in a tinkering lab in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. However, the startup planned to take advantage of its convenience in the UK to showcase their technology next year.
The UK facility will have a 50% less carbon footprint than a specific lithium battery gigafactory, said Srivastava said, startups have opted for simple manufacturing procedures to reduce both capital and operating expenses.
Asked that the UK – and not India – was selected for its first facility, Srivastava said that Europe provides a strong ecosystem and is already a center for battery manufacturing. Already in the startup, Kusurkar and co-founder of Kusurcha, located in the UK, are co-founder to help local operations. Nevertheless, the Startup sees India as one of its major markets. Once the battery is ready for commercialization in 2026.
Series A was headed by Chennai-based special chemical manufacturer, Archian Chemicals, now holds 21% stake in the startup along with participation from Ankur Capital.
Srivastava told Techchare that Archian’s participation is a strategic alignment, as a publicly listed company has great expertise in bromine manufacturing and supply chain management.
The startup costs around $ 58 million.
