Green Energy Company Greenjoules Raises $4.5 Mn From Blue Ashva Capital The funds will be utilized to set up commercial-scale waste-to-energy plants and invest in new R&D initiatives
By Prabhjeet Bhatla •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Pune-based green energy technology company Greenjoules Pvt. Ltd on Wednesday announced to have raised its Series A round of $4.5 million from Blue Ashva Capital through its Blue Ashva Sampada Fund.
The funds raised are a combination of equity and debt and will be utilized to set up commercial-scale waste to energy plants and invest in new R&D initiatives.
The company was founded in 2018 and is led by V Radhika, VS Shridhar, S Viraraghavan, and R Sethunath.
"Just imagine bio-wastes being converted into diesel for our cars, commercial vehicles, and industrial applications and that too without any retrofit or modification required. This usher in a new era of green diesel with a positive impact on the environment and economy. We are excited to work with Greenjoules to bring this novel green diesel to market," said Satya Bansal, founder, Blue Ashva Capital.
Greenjoules specializes in making renewable Biofuels, commonly recognized as drop-in fuels or second Gen Biofuels. These are curated entirely from agricultural residue and renewable wastes from agro-processing industries. The fuel can be used for industrial applications (to power Boilers, Gensets) and commercial applications (in diesel-powered vehicles).
"Greenjoules' vision of being a major player in the wastes-to-energy market gets a boost with this investment from Blue Ashva Capital. With this, we are well placed to play a significant role in serving the Large Industrial market, which has Board mandates to switch to environmentally friendly fuels. The 2018 Govt of India Biofuels policy intends to convert 5 per cent of all Diesel being consumed to Biofuels by 2030. This will further add opportunities for us in the years to come." said V S Shridhar, co-founder, and chief executive officer, Greenjoules Pvt Ltd.
Greenjoules Biofuels on the other hand use non-food and non-feed wastes as feedstock to manufacture Biofuels. The fuel is manufactured to the BIS1460 standards that petroleum diesel follows. It can be used without any modification with the current diesel engines, Gensets, or Boilers in use. This makes Greenjoules Biofuels a direct replacement for petroleum diesel.
"Investment by Blue Ashva is a big milestone for Greenjoules. We can now focus not only on growing our current product range but also on developing a portfolio range of high-energy-density liquid and gaseous biofuels. It is also an opportunity to commercialize such fuels manufactured from the extraordinary range of agro wastes available in India," added S Viraraghavan, founder and director Greenjoules Pvt Ltd.
The company is currently serving several large enterprise customers from its biorefinery in Chakan, Pune. It now plans to significantly scale up production by setting up a large facility near Pune to cater to the increasing demand of green diesel.
Greenjoules had received funding support under the Seed Support System of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India. The company has been funded earlier by MAPE, Bengaluru. It aims to deliver modern solutions for the challenges of a lower-carbon future.
