Topics

India’s Offgrid raises $15M to make lithium optional for battery storage

Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda

Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They’re here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $600+ before prices rise.

Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda

Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They’re here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise.

Most Popular

Cracks are forming in Meta’s partnership with Scale AI

Mastodon says it doesn’t ‘have the means’ to comply with age verification laws

TransUnion says hackers stole 4.4 million customers’ personal information

Get ready, EV owners: Here come the dongles

Anthropic launches a Claude AI agent that lives in Chrome

Google Translate takes on Duolingo with new language learning tools

Google Gemini’s AI

Latest

Amazon

Apps

Biotech & Health

Climate

Cloud Computing

Commerce

Crypto

Enterprise

EVs

Fintech

Fundraising

Gadgets

Gaming

Google

Government & Policy

Hardware

Instagram

Layoffs

Media & Entertainment

Meta

Microsoft

Privacy

Robotics

Security

Social

Space

Startups

TikTok

Transportation

Venture

Events

Startup Battlefield

StrictlyVC

Newsletters

Podcasts

Videos

Partner Content

TechCrunch Brand Studio

Crunchboard

India’s Offgrid raises $15M to make lithium optional for battery storage Jagmeet Singh PM PDT · September 1, 2025 Lithium has become the default choice for battery-powered systems, but its limitations — from volatile supply chains to short lifespans — are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Offgrid Energy Labs, a deep-tech startup based in India, wants to make lithium less central, especially when it comes to battery storage.

The seven-year-old startup, incubated at IIT Kanpur, has developed a proprietary zinc-bromine-based battery system as an alternative to lithium-ion technology. Called ZincGel, it delivers 80–90% of the energy efficiency of conventional lithium batteries, but at a significantly lower levelized cost of storage, the startup said.

As power demand grows worldwide, countries are ramping up efforts to expand renewable energy storage. India, as a prominent nation in this regard, aims to increase its non-fossil energy capacity tenfold — from 50 gigawatts to 500 gigawatts —

Offgrid Energy Labs is betting that its ZincGel battery technology can ease supply constraints

Now, the startup has raised $15 million in Series A funding to scale up its operations. It plans to build a 10-megawatt-hour demonstration facility in the UK, expected to be ready

“Not only should we be addressing a gap in the market from an application standpoint, but we should also make it financially viable, because there have been technologies and batteries in the past globally, which have the solution, but they’re so expensive that they’re not widely adopted,” said Tejas Kusurkar, co-founder and CEO of Offgrid Energy Labs, in an interview.

Kusurkar, who has a Ph.D. from IIT Kanpur, co-founded Offgrid Energy Labs in 2018 at the institute’s Startup Incubation and Innovation Center, along with Brindan Tulachan (also a Ph.D. from IIT Kanpur), Rishi Srivastava, and Ankur Agarwal. The team observed that while lithium batteries are well-suited for mobility, the stationary storage market was underserved — and needed batteries that are safer, more resilient, and built on a supply chain that is easier to access, Kusurkar told TechCrunch.

Techcrunch event Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They’re here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $600+ before prices rise. Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They’re here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise. San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025 REGISTER NOW The startup spent its first six years developing battery technology and has so far secured more than 25 IP families and over 50 IP assets across markets, including the U.S., U.K., India, as well as China, Australia, and Japan. The battery is based on zinc-bromide chemistry with a proprietary water-based electrolyte, resulting in a low risk of fire.

ZincGel is also capable of handling longer discharges (6–12 hours) multiple times throughout its lifetime and can last twice as long as a typical lithium-ion battery, Kusurkar said. Furthermore, the battery utilizes a carbon-based cathode for both fast charging and discharging.

Zinc in batteries is not a new concept, and some companies have already offered zinc-bromide-based batteries, including the Nasdaq-listed EOS Energy Enterprises. However, Kusurkar noted that Offgrid Energy Labs uses its patented assets that help bring down the cost. The ZincGel batteries can also reduce the need for using graphite, which helps bring down their production cost.

“Ultimately, customers care about the same performance, better price, or better performance, same price,” Srivastava told TechCrunch.

Offgrid Energy Labs’ technology is also designed to allow for tweaking or sub-optimizing the battery based on the application. This means that these zinc batteries can operate independently of environmental conditions and provide energy storage even at temperatures as low as minus 10 degrees Celsius, Srivastava said.

The startup is targeting industries with net-zero goals that want to maximize renewable energy use

So far, Offgrid Energy Labs has built its battery tech manually at a tinkering lab in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida. However, the startup plans to leverage its facility in the U.K. to demonstrate its technology to early customers next year.

The UK facility will have a carbon footprint 50% lower than that of a typical lithium battery gigafactory, Srivastava said, adding that the startup has opted for simpler manufacturing processes to reduce both capital and operational expenses.

Asked why the U.K. — and not India — was chosen for its first facility, Srivastava said, as Europe offers a strong ecosystem and is already a hub for battery manufacturing. The startup already has co-founders Kusurkar and Tulachan based in the U.K. to help with local operations. Still, the startup sees India as one of its key markets once the batteries are ready for commercialization in 2026.

The Series A round was led

Srivastava told TechCrunch that Archean’s participation is a strategic alignment, as the publicly listed company has considerable expertise in bromine manufacturing and supply chain management.

The startup is valued at around $58 million post-money.

Topics

Jagmeet Singh

Jagmeet covers startups, tech policy-related updates, and all other major tech-centric developments from India for TechCrunch. He previously worked as a principal

You can contact or verify outreach from Jagmeet View Bio October 27-29, 2025 San Francisco Put your brand in front of 10,000+ tech and VC leaders across all three days of Disrupt 2025. Amplify your reach, spark real connections, and lead the innovation charge. Secure your exhibit space before your competitor does.Last day to book is September 5

Most Popular Cracks are forming in Meta’s partnership with Scale AI Maxwell Zeff Marina Temkin

Mastodon says it doesn’t ‘have the means’ to comply with age verification laws Sarah Perez

TransUnion says hackers stole 4.4 million customers’ personal information Zack Whittaker

Get ready, EV owners: Here come the dongles Tim De Chant

Anthropic launches a Claude AI agent that lives in Chrome Maxwell Zeff

Google Translate takes on Duolingo with new language learning tools Aisha Malik

Google Gemini’s AI Maxwell Zeff

X LinkedIn Facebook Instagram youTube Mastodon Threads Bluesky TechCrunchStaffContact UsAdvertiseCrunchboard JobsSite Map Terms of ServicePrivacy PolicyRSS Terms of UseCode of Conduct IntelDOGELibbySpotifyApple EventTech LayoffsChatGPT © 2025 TechCrunch Media LLC.