Cleantech startup altM has raised $10.3 Mn (₹97.5 Cr) in a Series A funding round led by new investors Rainmatter and Mela Ventures. Existing investors Omnivore, Theia Ventures, Aureolis Ventures and Spectrum Impact also participated.
The Bengaluru-based startup plans to use the fresh capital to expand manufacturing, build its sales pipeline and continue investing in research and development (R&D). A large chunk of the funds will go towards setting up a 1,000-tonne-per-year commercial manufacturing facility by 2028.
“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,” cofounder and CEO Apoorv Garg told Inc42.
The startup will also continue developing alternative materials and biochemicals. It plans to expand its sales team following the funding round. “The major influx will be on sales,” Garg added.
Founded in 2022 by former Tesla executives Garg and Yugal Raj Jain, altM develops specialty chemicals and biomaterials from agricultural residue for industrial applications.
Its platform converts lignocellulosic biomass, including sugarcane bagasse, rice straw and other agricultural residues, into materials for use in beauty and personal care, textiles, industrial chemicals, construction, packaging and consumer goods.
The platform uses the major fractions of biomass, including cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, to produce multiple products from a single feedstock, offering an alternative to fossil-derived raw materials.
The latest round comes nearly three years after altM raised $3.5 Mn in a seed round in 2023. Since then, the startup has built an integrated R&D and pilot manufacturing facility in Bengaluru, bringing laboratory research, demonstration manufacturing and pilot production under one roof.
It has expanded its laboratory footprint nearly 5X, commissioned a demonstration manufacturing facility and advanced six molecules to the demonstration stage, with three selected for pilot production.
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.
The startup is currently focused on the BPC segment, while its R&D pipeline spans construction, electronics, automotive, polymers and battery materials.
Garg said 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.
“We have been installing it since late 2025 and finally finished the installation in 2026. It’s still in pre-production, and we’re getting the right certifications and validations to take it to production this month,” Garg said.
The startup expects to begin fulfilling purchase orders in the current quarter, with its first product launches planned for the following quarter. 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, Garg said.
altM’s process involves breaking down plant matter into core polymers and upgrading these fractions into chemicals. Garg said the startup has filed six patents in India covering its deconstruction technology and processes for upgrading individual molecules. It is working on a seventh patent and plans to file patents in international markets as well.
The startup has carried out more than 15,000 reactions at the laboratory stage and translated over 500 reactions to the demonstration stage. It has also reduced the time taken to develop new molecules from 12-15 months to under six months, Garg said.
Looking ahead, altM aims to sell out the capacity of its existing pilot plant by the first quarter of FY28. Over the next five years, it 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.
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