altM Raises $10.3M Series A Led by Rainmatter and Mela Ventures to Turn Crop Waste Into Materials
Bengaluru cleantech startup altM has raised $10.3 million (₹97.5 crore) in a Series A round co-led by Rainmatter, the climate fund backed by Zerodha, and Mela Ventures. altM turns farm waste such as sugarcane bagasse and rice straw into specialty chemicals and biomaterials, offering an alternative to ingredients made from petrochemicals. The round was reported on 5 November 2026.
Existing investors Omnivore, Theia Ventures, Aureolis Ventures and Spectrum Impact also took part. A large share of the money will go into building a 1,000-tonne-per-year commercial plant by 2028, according to CEO Apoorv Garg.
Deal summary
Company: altM
Headquarters: Bengaluru, India
Founded: 2022
Sector: Climate tech, biomaterials, specialty chemicals
Round: Series A
Amount: $10.3M (₹97.5 crore)
Co-leads: Rainmatter (Zerodha), Mela Ventures
Existing investors in the round: Omnivore, Theia Ventures, Aureolis Ventures, Spectrum Impact
Previous funding: $3.5M seed in 2023, led by Omnivore
Co-founders: Apoorv Garg (CEO), Yugal Raj Jain (COO), both formerly at Tesla
Reported: 5 November 2026
What altM does
altM takes lignocellulosic biomass, the tough, woody leftovers from crops such as sugarcane bagasse and rice straw, and turns it into ingredients that companies currently make from oil.
The key step is separation. Plant waste is made of three main components: cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. altM's process splits all three apart, so one batch of feedstock can feed several product lines instead of one.
Its first products are aimed at beauty and personal care:
a lignin-derived SPF booster for suncare
a cellulose-based rheology modifier, which thickens and stabilises creams and lotions
bio-derived ferulic acid, an antioxidant used in skincare
In February 2026, the company also announced a formaldehyde-free lignin wood adhesive and a lignin-based UV blocker. Its research pipeline covers construction, electronics, automotive, polymers and battery materials.
According to Inc42, altM has run more than 15,000 lab reactions, moved over 500 of them to demonstration stage, and taken three molecules to pilot production. It has filed six patents in India, with a seventh in progress, and says it has cut the time to develop a new molecule from 12 to 15 months to under six.
"The climate transition will only happen when sustainable materials outperform incumbents on cost and scalability," Garg said when the pilot plant launched.
The problem: India's crop waste
India produces a huge amount of farm residue, and much of it is burned. Figures cited by Down To Earth put the scale in context:
Measure | Figure |
Crop residue generated in India each year | More than 500 million tonnes |
Share from cereals (rice, wheat, maize, millets) | About 70% |
Share from rice alone | 34% |
Share from wheat | 22% |
Rice stubble in Punjab each year | About 20 million tonnes, roughly 80% of it burned |
Stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh is a major source of the air pollution that covers north India every autumn and winter. Sugarcane leaves are also commonly burned.
That makes residue a cheap and abundant feedstock, in theory. In practice it is bulky, seasonal and spread across millions of small farms, which is why collecting it at scale is hard. altM's bet is that turning it into high-value chemicals, rather than low-value uses such as fuel, makes the economics work.
"The real challenge with bio-based materials is execution at scale," said Yugal Raj Jain, altM's co-founder and COO.
Who backed the round, and the team behind it
The round was co-led by Rainmatter, the investment arm backed by Indian brokerage Zerodha, and Mela Ventures.
The company's early backers came back for this round:
Investor | Earlier involvement |
Omnivore | Led altM's $3.5M seed in September 2023, the first investment from its agritech and climate fund |
Theia Ventures | Seed investor |
Aureolis Ventures | Seed investor through Paula Mariwala |
Spectrum Impact | Seed investor through Mirik Gogri |
Omnivore is an Indian agritech investor that has backed more than 40 startups. Its climate fund, launched in 2022, had a first close of $150 million and targets seed and Series A deals in agrifood, rural fintech and climate-smart agriculture.
The founders met at Tesla in the US. CEO Apoorv Garg held supply chain and engineering leadership roles at Prometheus Fuels, Tesla and Maruti Suzuki. Co-founder and COO Yugal Raj Jain worked in engineering at Tesla, where he managed several factory and product launches.
That manufacturing background matters for a company whose main challenge is scaling up production.
The scale-up plan
altM's story so far is a step-by-step move from the lab to the factory. Here is how its production plans have developed:
Date | Milestone |
2022 | Founded in Bengaluru |
Sep 2023 | Raised a $3.5M seed led by Omnivore |
Feb 2026 | Launched an integrated biorefinery pilot plant in Bengaluru, with stated capacity of 15 to 50 tonnes a year |
Nov 2026 | Pilot plant in Electronic City, Bengaluru, at 70 tonnes a year, in pre-production; raised $10.3M Series A |
By 2028 | Planned 1,000-tonne-per-year commercial plant |
Within about five years | Target of 10,000 tonnes a year |
The timeline has shifted slightly. In February, altM said it planned a first commercial plant of 1,500 to 2,000 tonnes a year in 2027. The plan reported now is a 1,000-tonne plant by 2028. Building physical capacity tends to be the slowest part of growing a hardware-heavy startup, and altM is not alone in raising for it this week: US factory robotics company Aformic also closed a seed round to scale its deployments.
The company also set near-term sales goals. It expects its first purchase orders this quarter, plans to launch its first beauty and personal care products next quarter, and aims to sell out its pilot capacity by the first quarter of financial year 2028 (April to June 2027). Nearly 30 beauty and personal care customers are at various stages, with about 16 to 18 in testing and validation.
At 10,000 tonnes a year, altM projects annual revenue of 100 million to 200 million, depending on which molecules it produces. Inc42 did not specify the currency.
Garg described the priorities plainly: "a large chunk of our investment will go into building the next 1,000-tonne-per-year commercial plant." He added that the company is growing its sales team: "The major influx will be on sales."
What to watch next
The 1,000-tonne plant. Site, cost and construction timeline have not been disclosed. The plan has already changed once since February.
Feedstock supply. Scaling to 10,000 tonnes a year will need reliable collection of bagasse and straw. Watch for partnerships with sugar mills or farmer groups.
Price against petrochemicals. Garg's own test is that sustainable materials must beat incumbents on cost and scale. Pricing data from early customers will show how close altM is.
New markets. Beauty and personal care come first. Moves into construction, adhesives or battery materials would widen the business but need more capacity.
Patents abroad. altM plans international patent filings, a sign it intends to sell outside India.
Related reading on StartupBooted
Sources
Inc42: Cleantech startup altM raises $10.3 Mn to scale manufacturing (5 Nov 2026)
The Week (PTI): altM launches integrated biorefinery pilot (9 Feb 2026)
Global AgInvesting: Omnivore leads $3.5M investment in altM (8 Sep 2023)
Down To Earth: Stubble burning, a problem for the environment, agriculture and humans (4 Jun 2019)