Chakr Innovation Bags $23 Mn To Take Its Anti-Pollution Tech Global

ONGC-backed climate tech startup Chakr Innovation has raised $23 Mn (INR 193.5 Cr) in a Series C funding round led by Iron Pillar.

In a statement, the startup said that it plans to utilise the fresh funds to expand its manufacturing capacity, accelerate international growth and scale up backward integration. A portion of the capital will also be utilised to further invest in research and development (R&D).

“This funding is a major step toward realising our vision of building world-class material science technologies from India. With these resources, we will expand globally, strengthen our R&D capabilities, and establish the country’s first dedicated materials science center focused on critical materials…,’ said cofounder and CEO Kushagra Srivastava.

Founded in 2016 by IIT Delhi alumni Srivastava, Chakr’s flagship offering is an emission control device for diesel generators to mitigate air pollution and its adverse environmental and public health effects. The startup claims to cater to more than 2,000 customers and installed 5,000 of its devices.

It also claims to have developed an alternative to lithium-ion batteries, which can be completely built indigenously and have higher energy density than traditional batteries. Chakr Innovation is also building an energy storage technology to reduce India’s dependence on imported lithium-ion chemistry.

The startup, which employs a workforce of 450 people, also claims to have so far filed 42 patent applications and operates manufacturing facilities in Gurugram and Pune.

Commenting on the fundraise, Iron Pillar’s Ashok Ananthakrishnan added, “… What attracted us to Chakr was the mission driven culture of the company and the successful commercialisation of its R&D efforts in a short span of seven years… We are proud to partner Chakr as they expand their global footprint and continue to pioneer transformative tech worldwide”.

This is Chakr’s second funding round in the past two years. In 2023, the climate tech startup raised INR 18 Cr from the Export-Import Bank of India under the bank’s Ubharte Sitare Programme. Prior to this in 2021, the company also raised an undisclosed sum as part of a Series B round from SBICap Ventures.

Although India’s climate tech ecosystem has been making healthy strides in the past few years, the sector is yet to see the same investment maturity or depth as other prominent areas. Partly to blame for this are challenges such as high gestation period, shallow late-stage funding, weak consumer demand in a price-conscious market and high upfront costs.

However, this narrative has been witnessing a change. The rise of philanthropic capital and impact funds, growing policy push, production-linked-incentive schemes, sustainability targets and environmental-consciousness have made climate tech space an attractive proposition for VC and PE firms.

As a result, Indian climate tech startups, as per Inc42 data, have raised more than $2.2 Bn in funding in the past 18 months. The sector now counts more than 800 active startups and a growing band of investors.

In May, deeptech startup Alt Carbon bagged $12 Mn in its seed round led by US-based AI robotics company Physical Intelligence’s founder Lachy Groom. Another climate tech startup FluxGen secured INR 28 Cr in its Pre-Series A round led by IAN Alpha Fund in March.

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