Bengaluru-based climate deep-tech startup altM has raised $10.3 million in a Series A funding round to scale its platform that converts agricultural residue into high-performance specialty chemicals and biomaterials. The round saw participation from new investors Rainmatter by Zerodha and Mela Ventures, along with existing backers Omnivore, Theia Ventures, Aureolis Ventures, Spectrum Impact, and strategic angel investors.
The capital will support altM’s transition from pilot-scale production to commercial manufacturing. The company will also use the funds to expand research and development, customer qualification programmes, and its engineering and commercial teams.
Turning Farm Waste Into Industrial Inputs
Founded in 2022 by former Tesla manufacturing leaders Apoorv Garg and Yugal Raj Jain, with bioprocessing scientist Dr. Harshad Velankar joining later as Chief Scientific Officer, altM is building an alternate materials platform that uses agricultural residue as a source of industrial carbon.
The startup’s proprietary processes convert lignocellulosic biomass—including sugarcane bagasse and rice straw—into materials for beauty and personal care, textiles, industrial chemicals, construction, packaging, and consumer goods. By using cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin from the same feedstock, altM can produce multiple products from a single agricultural residue stream.
The approach is designed to reduce dependence on fossil-derived raw materials while creating value from India’s large surplus of agricultural waste.
From Lab to Commercial Scale
Since raising a $3.5 million seed round in 2023, altM has built an integrated R&D and pilot manufacturing facility in Bengaluru. In under two years, the company has expanded its laboratory footprint nearly fivefold, commissioned a demonstration manufacturing facility, and advanced six molecules to demonstration scale.
Three products have now been selected for pilot plant production: a lignin-derived SPF Booster for suncare, a cellulose-based rheology modifier, and a bio-derived Ferulic Acid for cosmetics and personal care formulations.
Apoorv Garg, Co-founder and CEO of altM, said industrial manufacturing has relied on fossil carbon for more than a century, while altM is building a new source of industrial carbon from agricultural residue. He added that the company’s focus is on developing materials and manufacturing processes that customers can adopt at the performance, cost, quality, and scale required for industrial use.
Yugal Raj Jain, Co-founder and COO, said moving a material from laboratory to commercial production requires processes that can consistently manufacture the same material at increasing scale. He noted that altM was built around combining materials development with process engineering and manufacturing from the beginning.
Investors See an Inflection Point
Rainmatter by Zerodha said it is partnering with altM as the company moves into commercial-scale production, describing the transformation of agricultural residue into high-performance biochemicals as a way to unlock strategic industrial value from India’s domestic residue base.
Krishnakumar N, Managing Partner at Mela Ventures, said altM is tackling one of industrial chemistry’s hardest problems: creating new-age materials that match the performance of fossil-derived inputs while changing where their carbon comes from.
Abhilash Sethi, Partner at Omnivore, said the firm has believed in altM from an early stage and is doubling down because of the team’s ability to turn ambitious science into commercially scalable manufacturing.
Building Circular Supply Chains
altM believes the next industrial transition will be toward circular carbon, where agricultural residue becomes a reliable feedstock for the global specialty chemicals industry. The company aims to build the manufacturing infrastructure that enables this shift across global supply chains.
With the new funding, altM is positioning itself as an Indian deep-tech company capable of replacing fossil-derived inputs in everyday products from sunscreen and cosmetics to packaging, textiles, and construction materials.
By: Sejal Thakur
