Funded by former Tesla manufacturing leaders, the Bengaluru company is developing specialty chemicals from sugarcane bagasse and rice straw for beauty, textiles and construction
Bengaluru-based specialty chemicals company altM announced it raised $10.3 million in a Series A round. It said it will use the funds to expand its manufacturing capabilities, research and development, and customer qualification programs. The company converts agricultural residues, including sugarcane bagasse and rice straw, into materials for industrial and consumer applications.
Rainmatter by Zerodha and Mela Ventures joined existing investors Omnivore, Theia Ventures, Aureolis Ventures and Spectrum Impact in the round, along with strategic angel investors.
Apoorv Garg and Yugal Raj Jain, former manufacturing leaders at Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), founded altM in 2022. Bioprocessing scientist Harshad Velankar later joined as chief scientific officer.
Residue splits into three fractions
altM converts agricultural residue, including sugarcane bagasse and rice straw, into materials for use in beauty and personal care, textiles, industrial chemicals, construction, packaging and consumer goods.
The platform uses the major fractions of the biomass: cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin.
Six molecules reach demonstration scale
Since raising a $3.5 million seed round in 2023, altM has built an integrated R&D and pilot manufacturing facility in Bengaluru. It has expanded its laboratory footprint nearly fivefold in less than two years and commissioned its demonstration manufacturing facility.
Six molecules have reached demonstration scale, and the company has selected three for pilot plant production. The Series A funding will support the next stage of manufacturing development and customer qualification, as altM works to move its materials toward commercial adoption.
“We are building a new source of industrial carbon from agricultural residue,” said Garg, co-founder and chief executive. He added that the company is focused on developing materials and manufacturing processes that customers can adopt at the performance, cost, quality and scale industrial applications require.
Three products advance toward commercialization
altM said the first products advancing toward commercialization include a lignin-derived SPF booster for suncare, a cellulose-based rheology modifier and bio-derived ferulic acid for cosmetics and personal care formulations.
