India's Offgrid raises $15M to make lithium optional for battery storage | TechCrunch

"Lithium has become the default choice for battery-powered systems, but its limitations - from volatile supply chains to short lifespans - are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Offgrid Energy Labs, a deep-tech startup based in India, wants to make lithium less central, especially when it comes to battery storage. The seven-year-old startup, incubated at IIT Kanpur, has developed a proprietary zinc-bromine-based battery system as an alternative to lithium-ion technology."

"Called ZincGel, it delivers 80-90% of the energy efficiency of conventional lithium batteries, but at a significantly lower levelized cost of storage, the startup said. As power demand grows worldwide, countries are ramping up efforts to expand renewable energy storage. India, as a prominent nation in this regard, aims to increase its non-fossil energy capacity tenfold - from 50 gigawatts to 500 gigawatts - by 2030."

"New Delhi is also targeting 236 gigawatt-hours of battery energy storage capacity by 2031-32 and announced a ₹54 billion (roughly $612 million) funding planin June to develop 30 gigawatt-hour battery storage systems in the country. However, like many global markets, India faces a key challenge: China's dominance over the lithium supply chain. Offgrid Energy Labs is betting that its ZincGel battery technology can ease supply constraints by using widely available materials and offering a more cost-effective alternative to lithium-based systems."

Lithium remains the dominant chemistry for battery-powered systems but faces volatile supply chains and short lifespans. Offgrid Energy Labs developed ZincGel, a zinc-bromine battery delivering 80–90% of lithium energy efficiency with lower levelized storage costs. India plans a large expansion of non-fossil energy capacity and substantial battery energy storage, while China continues to dominate the lithium supply chain. ZincGel uses widely available materials to reduce dependence on lithium and lower costs. The startup raised $15 million in Series A funding, plans a 10 MWh demonstration facility in the UK by Q1 2026, and foresees commercialization and a gigafactory in India.

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