Bengaluru-based specialty chemicals company altM has successfully raised $10.3 million (₹97.5 crore) in a Series A funding round, according to reports from Inc42. The funding round was led by Rainmatter by Zerodha and Mela Ventures, with participation from existing investors Omnivore, Theia Ventures, Aureolis Ventures and Spectrum Impact, along with VC Grid and strategic angel investors. The startup, founded in 2022 by former Tesla manufacturing leaders Apoorv Garg and Yugal Raj Jain, with bioprocessing scientist Harshad Velankar joining as chief scientific officer, is developing a specialty chemicals platform that converts agricultural residue into high-performance industrial chemicals.
The funding will be utilized to expand altM's manufacturing capabilities, research and development, customer qualification programmes, and engineering and commercial teams as it moves from pilot-scale production to commercial manufacturing, as reported by Inc42. The startup plans to set up a 1,000-tonne-per-year commercial manufacturing facility by 2028, with the major influx of funds directed towards this manufacturing expansion. Since raising its $3.5 million seed round in 2023, the company has built an integrated R&D and pilot manufacturing facility in Bengaluru, bringing laboratory research, demonstration manufacturing and pilot production under one roof. In less than three years, the company has expanded its laboratory footprint nearly fivefold. The company has completed installation of its 70-tonne-per-year pilot plant in Bengaluru's Electronic City and is preparing to begin commercial production this month, with first product launches planned for the following quarter.
According to Inc42, altM's processes convert lignocellulosic biomass, including sugarcane bagasse, rice straw and other agricultural residues, into materials used in beauty and personal care, textiles, industrial chemicals, construction, packaging and consumer goods. The platform uses the major fractions of biomass — cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin — to produce multiple products from a single feedstock. The startup currently works with nearly 30 BPC customers at different stages of product development, testing and commercialisation, with around 16-18 customers in testing and active validation. The first products advancing towards commercialisation include a lignin-derived SPF booster for suncare applications, a cellulose-based rheology modifier and bio-derived ferulic acid for cosmetics and personal care formulations. The process enables agricultural residue to serve as a source of industrial carbon and reduces dependence on fossil-derived raw materials.
As reported by Inc42, altM has filed six patents in India covering its deconstruction technology and processes for upgrading individual molecules, with the startup working on a seventh patent and plans to file patents in international markets as well. The company has carried out more than 15,000 reactions at the laboratory stage and translated over 500 reactions to the demonstration stage. The startup has reduced the time taken to develop new molecules from 12-15 months to under six months. Looking ahead, altM aims to sell out the capacity of its existing pilot plant by the first quarter of FY28 and plans to expand manufacturing capacity to 10,000 tonnes per year over the next five years, with the potential to generate ₹100-200 crore in annual revenue depending on the molecules produced.
