Metastable Materials is a Bengaluru-based startup that recovers metals from used lithium-ion batteries using a chemical-free carbothermal reduction process.

This Startup Deep Dive explains what Metastable Materials does, how it makes money, who backs it, how it compares with rivals and what could go wrong, using publicly available information. It is educational and not investment advice. Last updated: October 2026.

Metastable Materials in Brief

• What it is: Metastable Materials is an Indian Battery recycling / cleantech company based in Bengaluru.
• Who it serves: businesses, institutions, consumers, learners and public-sector buyers.
• Recovers copper, aluminium, cobalt, nickel and lithium from lithium-ion batteries
• Uses a chemical-free Integrated Carbothermal Reduction method
• Is developing heat-resistant packaging and storage for safer transport of used batteries
• Funding: Undisclosed.

Metastable Materials Quick Facts

Figures marked “reported” come from published reports and may differ between sources; “Not disclosed” means no reliable public figure was found.

What Is Metastable Materials?

Metastable Materials operates in the Battery recycling / cleantech space in India. Understanding a company like this starts with three questions: who is the customer, what painful problem is being solved, and why the solution is better than the alternatives. The sections below apply that lens to Metastable Materials.

• Recovers copper, aluminium, cobalt, nickel and lithium from lithium-ion batteries
• Uses a chemical-free Integrated Carbothermal Reduction method
• Is developing heat-resistant packaging and storage for safer transport of used batteries
• Operates a 21,000 sq ft facility near Bengaluru

The Origin Story of Metastable Materials

Every company starts from a noticed gap and a team willing to commit to closing it. Strong origin stories are specific: a clear problem, a founding team with relevant skills, and an early product that real customers could test. Founder-market fit, meaning the team’s lived experience or technical depth in the domain, tends to predict how fast a young company learns.

• Founders: Manikumar Uppala, Saurav Goyal, Shubham Vishvakarma.
• Founded in October 2021 in Bengaluru by Manikumar Uppala, Saurav Goyal and Shubham Vishvakarma, who met at IIT Roorkee
• One tracker also lists Ashok Kumar as a founder; reports differ
• Bootstrapped before its first outside round

Key Milestones and Challenges

No startup grows in a straight line. Early years usually involve slow adoption, product rewrites, hiring mistakes and funding gaps. In the Battery recycling / cleantech sector the common turning points are a first paying customer, a regulatory approval, a successful product demonstration or a funding round that lets the team invest ahead of demand. How a team responds to setbacks says more about resilience than any single headline.

• October 2021: founded
• October 2022: facility opened near Bengaluru, capacity 1,500 tonnes a year (about 6% of India's Li-ion recycling demand per the company)
• June 2022: pre-seed round reported with Log9 co-founders among the leads
• Early 2023: seed round led by Surge, with Sequoia India, Speciale Invest, Theia Ventures

Metastable Materials Funding and Investors

Funding history shows how much outside confidence a company has attracted and how long it can operate before needing more capital. Figures below are reported and may differ between sources; valuation figures are estimates unless the company has confirmed them.

• June 2022: Pre-seed, amount undisclosed, led by Log9 Materials co-founders Akshay Singhal and Kartik Hajela and PointOne's Archana Priyadarshini
• Early 2023: Seed, amount undisclosed, led by Surge (Sequoia India), with Speciale Invest, Theia Ventures and angels including Akshay Singhal, Kartik Hajela, Archana Priyadarshini and Sanjeev Rangrass

How Does Metastable Materials Make Money? (Business Model)

A business model describes who pays, how often and how much it costs to serve them. Strong models show repeat usage, improving margins with scale and acquisition channels that do not depend only on paid spend. Weak models show one-off sales, rising costs and growth that stops when spending stops. For companies selling to businesses, institutions, consumers, learners and public-sector buyers, sales cycles and contract size matter as much as headline growth.

• Processes end-of-life batteries to recover metals sold as recycled commodities
• Seed funds will go toward hiring in manufacturing, engineering, supply chain and operations
• Also offers safe battery logistics solutions

The Numbers: Metastable Materials Financials

Financial figures show whether growth is turning into a self-sustaining business. Small and private companies often disclose little, so any number below is included only if it was found in public reporting.

• Audited revenue, profit and loss figures for Metastable Materials were not available in the public sources reviewed.
• Readers can check the company’s filings with the Registrar of Companies for the latest financial statements.

Market Opportunity for Metastable Materials

Market size is easy to exaggerate, so a useful approach separates the total market from the portion a company can realistically reach with its current product and distribution. The main forces behind demand in this sector are rising digital adoption, cloud and mobile penetration, growing enterprise technology spending, government digitisation programmes and a deep pool of engineering talent. Each of these widens the opportunity, but capital efficiency and execution decide who captures it.

• Facility capacity of 1,500 tonnes a year is put at about 6% of India's Li-ion recycling demand by the company
• Growing volumes of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries

Technology and Product at Metastable Materials

Technology is rarely the whole moat, but it drives speed, cost and customer experience. A practical way to assess it is to separate the capability the company controls from the commodity infrastructure it rents. In this sector the important factors are product quality, data and integration depth, security, scalability and the speed of shipping improvements.

• Integrated Carbothermal Reduction, described as chemical-free
• Claimed recovery above 90% (other profiles say up to 99%) with lower capital and operating costs than conventional recycling

Team and Culture at Metastable Materials

Teams are the most important and least measurable asset of a young company. Look at how complementary the founders’ skills are, how deep the second layer of leadership is, and how the company hires and retains specialists. Culture shows up in small repeated behaviours: how quickly bad news travels upward and whether commitments to customers are kept.

• Manikumar Uppala, Saurav Goyal and Shubham Vishvakarma, IIT Roorkee alumni
• Employee count differs between listings (7 and 18)

Metastable Materials Competitors: Competitive Landscape

A fair competitive analysis names direct rivals, adjacent players who could move into the space, and the customer’s default alternative. Durable advantages include proprietary data or technology, licences and approvals, brand trust, switching costs and cost leadership.

Risks and Challenges for Metastable Materials

• No disclosed revenue or round size
• Technology claims are company statements
• Competition from larger recyclers
• Competition: low barriers to entry and well-funded rivals can compress pricing and slow growth.
• Funding risk: technology businesses often burn cash before reaching profit and depend on investor appetite.

Risk is not a reason to avoid a company; it is a reason to price it correctly and to monitor the right indicators over time. Regulation in this sector is shaped by data protection rules under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, sector regulators, consumer protection law and IT rules.

Metastable Materials Growth Outlook: What to Watch

• Seed funds aimed at scaling manufacturing and logistics
• Further scale-up will depend on battery feedstock supply and later funding
• Key indicators: recurring revenue, customer retention, gross margin, customer acquisition cost and runway.
• Funding position: Whether Metastable Materials can reach its next milestone before needing new capital.
• Regulation: Changes from data protection rules under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, sector regulators, consumer protection law and IT rules.

Industry Context: Where Metastable Materials Fits

India's technology startup ecosystem is one of the largest in the world, supported by cheap data, a large base of smartphone users, digital public infrastructure and a deep engineering talent pool. Companies now build for education, software, mobility, logistics, agriculture, defence, media and more, selling both to Indian customers and abroad.

Durable technology companies usually combine a clear customer problem with repeatable distribution and disciplined unit economics. Growth funded only by spending tends to fade, while products that customers keep using and paying for build compounding advantages.

For readers new to this field, a useful habit is to separate announcements from evidence. A plan, a partnership or a funding headline describes intent, while a delivered product, a paying customer or an audited financial statement describes results. Comparing the two over time shows how reliably a company turns promises into outcomes.

Bull Case and Bear Case for Metastable Materials

An investment thesis is a short, testable statement of why a company could become far more valuable, together with what evidence would prove it wrong. The points below are general to this sector and are not forecasts for Metastable Materials.

Bull case

• A large and growing base of digital users and businesses expands the addressable market.
• Recurring revenue and strong retention can compound growth.
• Selling into global markets widens the opportunity beyond India.

Bear case

• Heavy competition can compress pricing and margins.
• Dependence on external funding can force painful cost cuts.
• Regulation or platform changes can disrupt a product quickly.

Lessons Founders and Investors Can Take from Metastable Materials

Studying a company in the Battery recycling / cleantech space offers lessons that go beyond any single firm. The points below are general lessons for the sector and are not claims about Metastable Materials.

• Solving a clear, frequent customer problem matters more than adding features.
• Retention and repeat usage are better health signals than sign-ups.
• Disciplined spending extends runway and keeps options open when funding tightens.
• Distribution, not just product quality, decides who wins in crowded markets.
• Building trust through data protection and reliability is part of the product.

How to Evaluate Metastable Materials as a Startup

• Customer clarity: Can Metastable Materials name its customer and the problem it solves in one sentence?
• Evidence of demand: Look for repeat customers, signed contracts or measurable usage rather than announcements alone.
• Economics: Check whether margins improve as volume grows.
• Execution: Compare announced timelines with what has actually been delivered.
• Funding runway: Estimate how long current capital lasts at the present spending rate.
• Regulatory standing: Confirm required approvals are in place.
• Customer concentration: Check whether a few customers account for most of the revenue.
• Management depth: Look for experienced leaders beyond the founders and a stable core team.

The Takeaway

Metastable Materials is part of India’s growing Battery recycling / cleantech ecosystem. The useful lesson from studying it is the discipline of asking structured questions about customers, economics, advantage and resilience. Companies that answer them well, repeatedly and under pressure are the ones that endure. Readers should treat any single report, ranking or funding headline as one input among many, and should re-check key facts against recent company announcements. Because public information on young companies is often limited, patience in verifying claims is part of good analysis. Public sources can also describe the same company in different ways, so it is worth checking dates, definitions and whether a figure refers to revenue, total income or transaction value, and whether it covers one entity or a wider group, before drawing conclusions. Small differences in rounding, currency conversion or reporting periods can also change how a figure reads. Comparing the same figure across several recent reports helps show whether it is stable or has changed over time. This article is educational and is not investment advice.

• Clear customers and repeat demand matter more than announcements.
• Regulation and capital needs shape how fast a startup in this sector can grow.
• Track a few leading indicators over time rather than one headline metric.

Metastable Materials FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions

What is Metastable Materials?

Metastable Materials is a Bengaluru-based startup that recovers metals from used lithium-ion batteries using a chemical-free carbothermal reduction process. It is profiled in the Startup Deep Dive series, which explains business model, funding, competitors and risks.

Who founded Metastable Materials?

Metastable Materials was founded by Manikumar Uppala, Saurav Goyal, Shubham Vishvakarma, and the company reports a founding year of 2021.

How much funding has Metastable Materials raised?

Undisclosed. Funding figures are reported and may differ between sources, so readers should check the latest company announcements.

How does Metastable Materials make money?

Metastable Materials earns revenue from its Battery recycling / cleantech products and services sold to businesses, institutions, consumers, learners and public-sector buyers. The exact revenue mix is described in the business model section and is not fully disclosed publicly.

Who are the competitors of Metastable Materials?

Reported rivals include MiniMines, Renewable Metals, BatX Energies. See the competitor comparison above for how they differ.

What are the main risks for Metastable Materials?

Main risks include competition: low barriers to entry and well-funded rivals can compress pricing and slow growth, funding and capital needs, competition and regulation by data protection rules under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, sector regulators, consumer protection law and IT rules. This is educational content, not investment advice.

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Source

Source: Publicly available data, published reports, industry research, and other credible sources.