Cancrie, a Jaipur-based energy storage company, has raised $1.2 million (₹103.62 million) in a maiden institutional seed round from Roots Ventures and IIMA Ventures.

The funds will be used to scale production, accelerate research and development, and forge partnerships to integrate its advanced nanocarbon materials into next-generation energy storage devices.

The company aims to produce at least 50,000 batteries per month.

Cancrie develops advanced carbon materials for energy storage devices, focusing on sustainability and performance. Their patented technology produces carbons to enhance battery performance across various chemistries, including lead-acid, lithium-ion, sodium-ion, redox flow batteries, and supercapacitors.

It aims to create superior energy storage solutions using renewable resources while maintaining affordability and achieving net-zero emissions. The company also extracts nanocarbons for batteries from coconut shells.

Cancrie claims its materials produce four times stronger electrodes, improve energy density by up to 20%, enhance charge acceptance by up to 60%, and extend the lifecycle of lead-acid batteries by more than 30%.

Corporate funding for energy storage companies, including venture capital investments, public market funding, and debt financing, increased 5% year-over-year in 2024.

Energy storage development in India is still in its infancy. As of March 2024, according to India’s Energy Storage Landscape report by Mercom India Research, the cumulative installed battery energy storage system (BESS) capacity was 219.1 MWh.

According to the National Electricity Plan 2023, India’s energy storage capacity requirement is projected to be 82.37 GWh (47.65 GWh from pumped storage projects and 34.72 GWh from BESS in 2026-27.

The Ministry of Power has also notified a long-term trajectory for the Energy Storage Obligation. The obligation will increase up to 4% by the financial year 2029-30.

In 2024, various agencies in India floated tenders to develop projects with 3,625 MW/8,100 MWh of standalone BESS.