Team Startupcity

·  Sthyr Energy raises $1 million seed funding led by Speciale Invest and Antares Ventures.

·  Developing safe, modular Zinc-Air batteries for long-duration and seasonal energy storage.

·  Targeting grid operators, renewable farms, microgrids, and remote communities.

Sthyr Energy, a deep-tech firm that focuses on cutting-edge energy storage solutions, has secured seed investment worth $1 million from Speciale Invest, with support also coming from Antares Ventures.

Established by IIT Madras researchers Gunjan Kapadia, Akhil Kongara, and Muhammed Hamdan, the startup is working on mechanically rechargeable Zinc-Air battery systems for long-duration and seasonal energy storage.

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The new battery architecture uses non-flammable, water-based electrolytes for enhanced safety and compartmentalizes the energy and power components to facilitate flexible, modular installations on diverse scales.

"We plan to use this funding to scale up R&D efforts and drive pilot deployments," added Gunjan Kapadia, co-founder at Sthyr. "Our target customers are grid operators, renewable energy asset managers, microgrids in rural areas, and even defence or island nations that are presently reliant on diesel."

Sthyr technology is designed to provide an LCOE for long-duration storage that is competitive  making it a compelling alternative to lithium-ion batteries. As India speeds up its expansion of renewable energy, the demand for efficient, scalable storage systems is likely to grow sharply.

Sthyr fills an urgent need in clean energy transition," stated Vishesh Rajaram, Speciale Invest Managing Partner. "The group's solid research backbone and purpose-led strategy make them particularly unique within the global energy storage landscape."

Though India has few zinc battery players, the wider international competition for energy storage innovation is gaining heat  and Sthyr is getting ahead of the pack with a distinctly Indian innovation.