altM raises $10.3 Mn Series A led by Rainmatter, Mela Ventures

Bengaluru-based cleantech startup altM has raised $10.3 Mn (₹97.5 Cr) in a Series A round led by new investors Rainmatter and Mela Ventures.

Existing investors Omnivore, Theia Ventures, Aureolis Ventures and Spectrum Impact also participated.

The round comes nearly three years after altM raised $3.5 Mn in a seed round in 2023. The startup will spend the money on expanding manufacturing, building its sales pipeline and continuing R&D. A large chunk of the funds will go towards a 1,000-tonne-per-year commercial manufacturing facility by 2028.

altM, founded in 2022 by former Tesla executives Apoorv Garg and Yugal Raj Jain, develops specialty chemicals and biomaterials from agricultural residue. Its platform converts lignocellulosic biomass, including sugarcane bagasse and rice straw, into its major fractions: cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin.

These fractions are upgraded into materials for use in beauty and personal care, textiles, industrial chemicals, construction, packaging and consumer goods. The platform produces multiple products from a single feedstock, offering an alternative to fossil-derived raw materials.

The startup is currently focused on the beauty and personal care (BPC) segment. The first products advancing towards commercialisation include a lignin-derived SPF booster for suncare, a cellulose-based rheology modifier and bio-derived ferulic acid for cosmetics and personal care formulations. It currently works with nearly 30 BPC customers at different stages of product development, testing and commercialisation. Around 16-18 of them are in testing and active validation.

altM has completed the installation of its 70-tonne-per-year pilot plant in Bengaluru’s Electronic City and is preparing to begin commercial production. It is still in pre-production, with certifications and validations underway. The startup expects to begin fulfilling purchase orders in the current quarter, with its first product launches planned for the following quarter.

Over the next five years, altM plans to expand its manufacturing capacity to 10,000 tonnes per year, with the potential to generate 100-200 Mn in annual revenue, depending on the molecules produced. The startup has also reduced the time taken to develop new molecules from 12-15 months to under six months, and has filed six patents in India.

”We have three large focus areas for the company today. In the short term, we want to start converting revenues and building our sales pipeline from the pilot plant. From a manufacturing perspective, a large chunk of our investment will go into building the next 1,000-tonne-per-year commercial plant,” said cofounder and CEO Apoorv Garg.