Indian energy storage startup Meine Electric has raised $750,000 (INR 6.7 crore) in a pre-seed funding round to support its transition from laboratory-scale prototypes to pilot-ready iron–air battery systems.
The round was backed by investors including Antler, Rebalance, Venture Catalysts, gradCapital, and the AIC-AU Incubation Foundation, which is hosted by Anna University. The company also received support from angel investors, including energy industry veteran Alexander Hogeveen Rutter.
Founded in 2023 by Priyansh Mohan and Stuti Kakkar, Meine Electric is developing iron–air batteries for long-duration energy storage (LDES). According to the company, it has demonstrated a proprietary iron–air chemistry capable of achieving a levelised cost of storage below $0.05/kWh (INR 4/kWh). The technology is based on abundant materials such as iron, air, and water, and works on a reversible rusting process: during discharge, iron reacts with oxygen to form rust and release electricity; during charging, the reaction reverses to regenerate metallic iron.
The company says its iron-air battery technology is designed to provide 16–24 hours of energy storage, with the ability to fully charge within around eight hours, matching the typical solar surplus window. Unlike several global peers, Meine Electric claims its iron–air batteries support faster charge and discharge cycles, allowing integration with solar-heavy power systems.
The startup is developing 16–24 hour iron-air battery systems using abundant materials such as iron, air and water, with a targeted sub-$0.05/kWh levelised cost of storage.
Meine Electric claims to be the only company in the Asia-Pacific region with a proven iron–air technology stack. It has four granted patents and seven international patent applications filed, with more in progress. The company states that its chemistry performance has been benchmarked against international alternatives.
Meine Electric operates from a 5,000 sq ft facility in Chennai that is being outfitted for pilot production, enabling the transition from lab prototypes to pilot-ready systems. The founding team brings 75+ years of combined experience and has spent the last three years refining the core iron-air chemistry.
The newly raised capital will be utilised to accelerate iron-air technology scale-up and commercialisation. The company is building a multi-kW grid connected prototype and plans larger pilot units as part of its plan to deliver turnkey, containerised iron-air battery systems by 2027.
A portion of the capital will also be used for strengthening the team and research infrastructure and deepening partnerships with Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and energy-intensive C&I customers for pilot adoption.
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