There are challenges beyond importing sophisticated components that India’s deep tech startups can’t yet source locally. Some of these challenges are equally or more fundamental.
I had a chance to get some insights on this from Apoorv Shaligram, founder and CEO at e-TRNL Energy, recently.
Apoorv, his fellow founder Uttam Sen, and their team are innovating new cell architectures to make cells, batteries and their applications safer, more reliable and better alternatives to fossil fuel.
They are backed by well-known investors including Speciale Invest, Micelio, Navam Capital, Indian Angel Network, and Anicut.
Check out the related video for the full conversation with Apoorv. Here’s a one-minute view on how the real science and engineering knowhow underlying the products that many Indian deep tech startups are developing has to be acquired ground up.
Tag: technology
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The ‘knowhow challenge’ — Apoorv Shaligram, founder of e-TRNL
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EVs and beyond: Apoorv Shaligram on barriers to adoption
Barriers to not just EV adoption, but beyond, in terms of widespread use of larger electric batteries the same way we’ve adopted smartphones, for example. What factors are holding adoption back?
Apoorv Shaligram, founder and CEO at e-TRNL Energy in Bengaluru, offers a quick point here. He identifies convenience and safety as the primary limiters for electric battery tech adoption in India.
Check out the related post for the full conversation with Apoorv, who with his fellow founder Uttam Sen and their team, is innovating new cell architectures to make cells, batteries and their applications safer, more reliable and better alternatives to fossil fuel.Related post
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Apoorv Shaligram on e-TRNL Energy’s efforts to innovate better cell architectures
In this episode I’m joined by Apoorv Shaligram, founder and CEO of e-TRNL Energy. Apoorv, and his fellow founder Uttam Sen, IIT Bombay alumni both, and their team are tackling the electric vehicle industry’s most critical “wants”: high levels of safety and fast charging.
While battery chemistry has attracted a lot of innovation effort, e-TRNL is focusing on the cell architecture instead. Their core innovation, 3D Electrode Architecture (3DEA), moves away from the traditional 2D thin-layered designs found in everything from smartphones to current EVs.
By fundamentally changing how current flows inside the cell, 3DEA reduces resistance and heat at the source, Apoorv explains. This makes batteries “super resilient” to thermal waste – the excess heat generated within a battery cell during its operation, primarily caused by internal resistance – preventing the catastrophic “cascading” fires in some EV batteries.
Beyond safety, this architecture unlocks the capability for 15-minute fast charging and longer-lasting, lighter battery packs, he says.
Apoorv also explains how they have verticalized their technology stack, putting together manufacturing processes from the ground up: They have also condensed the conventional 24-step manufacturing process into a precise 8-step operation. And the entrepreneurs envision modular, container-sized factories that reduce energy consumption and that are better suited to markets that lack large-scale adoption.
In this episode, Apoorv also talks about how India’s deep tech landscape is changing, with the government catalysing the discourse in the country. And we takeaway some lessons from e-TRNL’s recent Rs. 27.4 crore seed round, and the roadmap to hit full-scale manufacturing.
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Coming up: Apoorv Shaligram on how the government is catalysing a deep tech discourse in India
Coming up, tomorrow, a conversation with Apoorv Shaligram, founder and CEO at e-TRNL Energy in Bengaluru, where he and fellow founder Uttam Sen are innovating the next generation battery cell architectures and advanced manufacturing processes.
Apoorv and Uttam recently announced raising Rs. 27.4 crore (About $3 million) in seed funding, led by IAN Group (Indian Angel Network), with Navam Capital, and existing investors Speciale Invest, Micelio and others also joining in.
You can catch the full conversation right here, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here’s a 60-second preview with Apoorv talking about how the deep tech landscape in India is undergoing a government-led transformation. -
Coming up: Apoorv Shaligram on battery cell innovations at e-TRNL Energy, and a funding update
So, this morning, I drove up to the new office that Apoorv Shaligram and Uttam Kumar Sen and their team at e-TRNL Energy have set up – still being given some final touches before a formal inauguration soon.
Sat down with Apoorv to record the next episode of Conversations. And it’s always an awesome experience to do this in-person, in whatever conditions present themselves onsite, in terms of light and sound. (I did carry two Neever panels and my DJI wireless mics, and more on that in a separate note.)
I’ve had the privilege of being acquainted with this deep-tech entrepreneur duo – IIT Bombay alumni – almost from the time they set up e-TRNL and, in one early conversation a few years ago, they’d tried to help me understand the tech innovations they had in mind.
Today, we caught up in the context of their recent announcement of having raised Rs. 27.4 crore (About $3 million) in seed funding, led by IAN Group (Indian Angel Network), with Navam Capital, and existing investors Speciale Invest, Micelio and others also joining in.
We also spoke about the funding experience — what’s changed, what worked, best practices and so on. Catch all of that in the full conversation right here, or wherever you get your podcast, on Friday, Feb. 20.
Here’s a 90-second preview, with Apoorv explaining 3DEA, their 3D electrodes architecture.
By the way, I also just started a WhatsApp channel for anyone who prefers to keep track of their deep tech news and views that way.
Listen to the preview -
Point: MEINE Electric’s founders on innovating their batteries for scale
Listen to the point MEINE Electric is an Indian deep-tech startup in Chennai, developing iron-air battery systems designed for long-duration energy storage of 16 to 24 hours. Founders Priyansh Mohan and Stuti Kakar hope that these batteries will help accelerate India’s transition to net zero carbon emissions.
They use a process of controlled reversible rusting to create a cost-effective, sustainable alternative to lithium-ion batteries and pumped hydro storage. By utilizing abundant materials like iron, air, and water, they aim to provide 100 percent renewable energy reliability for energy-intensive industries such as mining and data centres.
Their proprietary innovations include fast-charging capabilities and a unique gas-diffusion electrode that is compatible with high-volume manufacturing. The venture has secured pre-seed funding and plans to showcase its first product pilot later this year. Ultimately, they envision building a renewable energy ecosystem to stabilize the grid as global power demands shift toward green sources.
You can catch the full conversation right here, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here’s a quick point on how the founders are innovating to develop their product for scale.
