Offgrid Energy Labs, a deep-tech startup from India, is working to reduce dependence on lithium, particularly in the battery storage segment.
The seven-year-old company, incubated at IIT Kanpur, has created a proprietary zinc-bromine-based battery system as an alternative to lithium-ion. Known as ZincGel, the solution delivers 80–90% of the energy efficiency of traditional lithium batteries while offering a far lower levelized cost of storage, according to the startup.
With global power demand on the rise, countries are intensifying efforts to scale renewable energy storage. India is a frontrunner in this space, aiming to increase its non-fossil energy capacity tenfold—from 50 GW to 500 GW—by 2030. By 2031–32, the country also plans to add 236 GWh of battery energy storage capacity, supported by a ₹54 billion ($612M) government initiative announced in June to build 30 GWh of battery storage systems. However, like much of the world, India grapples with China’s dominance in the lithium supply chain.
Offgrid Energy Labs believes its ZincGel technology can help ease these constraints by leveraging widely available materials and offering a cost-efficient alternative to lithium.
The startup has now raised $15 million in Series A funding to expand its operations. It plans to set up a 10 MWh demonstration facility in the UK by Q1 2026, followed by commercial rollout of ZincGel. The next phase includes building a gigafactory in India to scale production.
“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 holds a Ph.D. from IIT Kanpur, co-founded Offgrid Energy Labs in 2018 at the institute’s Startup Incubation and Innovation Center, alongside Brindan Tulachan (also a Ph.D. from IIT Kanpur), Rishi Srivastava, and Ankur Agarwal. Kusurkar said the team realized that lithium batteries work well for mobility but the stationary storage segment remains underserved and requires safer, more resilient solutions built on a more accessible supply chain.
The startup dedicated its first six years to developing its battery technology and has secured over 25 IP families and more than 50 IP assets across markets including the U.S., U.K., India, China, Australia, and Japan.
According to Kusurkar, ZincGel can support long-duration discharges of 6–12 hours, performed multiple times across its lifecycle, and has a lifespan twice that of conventional lithium-ion batteries. The battery also features a carbon-based cathode, enabling both fast charging and discharging.
Zinc-based batteries are not entirely new, with companies such as Nasdaq-listed EOS Energy Enterprises already offering zinc-bromide battery solutions. However, Kusurkar emphasized that Offgrid Energy Labs leverages its patented innovations to significantly lower costs. In addition, ZincGel batteries reduce reliance on graphite, further driving down production expenses.
“Ultimately, customers care about the same performance, better price, or better performance, same price,” Srivastava told.
Offgrid Energy Labs’ technology is designed to be flexible, allowing batteries to be tweaked or optimized based on application needs. As a result, these zinc-based batteries can function reliably even in extreme environments, providing energy storage at temperatures as low as minus 10 degrees Celsius, according to Srivastava.
The startup is targeting industries with net-zero goals, aiming to help them maximize renewable energy adoption by integrating storage solutions. Potential use cases include peak shifting and decentralized, off-grid energy systems. Early testers include Shell—which invested in Offgrid during its seed round through its corporate venture arm—and Tata Power. The company is also in discussions with global players such as Europe’s Enel Group to co-develop batteries tailored to specific applications.
Until now, Offgrid has manually built its battery technology at a tinkering lab in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. However, it plans to leverage its upcoming U.K. facility to showcase its innovation to early customers starting next year. This facility will have a carbon footprint 50% lower than a typical lithium battery gigafactory, thanks to simpler manufacturing processes that reduce both capital and operating costs.
Explaining why the U.K. was chosen over India, Srivastava highlighted Europe’s strong ecosystem for battery manufacturing and the fact that co-founders Kusurkar and Tulachan are already based in the U.K. to oversee operations. Still, the company sees India as a key market once commercial rollout begins in 2026.
The Series A round was led by Archean Chemicals, a Chennai-based specialty chemicals manufacturer that now holds a 21% stake in Offgrid, with additional participation from Ankur Capital. Srivastava said Archean’s involvement represents a strategic alignment, given its deep expertise in bromine manufacturing and supply chain management.
