India Startup Turns Farm Waste Into Fossil-Free Materials

Every year, Indian farmers burn hundreds of millions of tonnes of crop leftovers, creating toxic air pollution that chokes cities each season. At the same time, global industries pump billions into fossil-based chemicals for cosmetics, packaging, and textiles.

Two former Tesla engineers saw an opportunity to fix both problems at once. Apoorv Garg and Yugal Raj Jain founded altM in 2022 to turn agricultural waste into high-value sustainable materials that can replace petroleum products.

The company collects rice straw, wheat stalks, and sugarcane leftovers that would otherwise be burned or dumped. Their facility breaks down this biomass into useful components like cellulose, lignin, and silica, then transforms them into specialty chemicals through proprietary processes.

altM has already developed three products ready for commercial scale. These include a cosmetics ingredient that controls texture, a formaldehyde-free wood adhesive, and a natural SPF booster for sunscreens.

What makes their approach different is using the entire plant, not just one part. Most bio-based companies extract value from a single component and discard the rest. altM's integrated system processes everything, making the economics work alongside the environmental benefits.

The founding team spent years at Tesla scaling production of Models 3, Y, and S/X while expanding factories into China and Germany. That manufacturing expertise shapes everything they build. They started with a system designed for industrial scale and worked backwards to the science.

Dr. Harshad Velankar, their Chief Scientific Officer, brings over 20 years of bioprocess experience. The team focuses relentlessly on one question: can this be manufactured at scale without compromising on cost or performance?

Customers initially assumed sustainable materials meant trade-offs. altM is built to prove otherwise. Their pilot facility currently produces 15 to 50 tonnes annually, generating early revenue through customer trials.

The company raised $3.5 million in seed funding in August 2023, led by Omnivore. Most of that capital has gone into building pilot infrastructure, expanding R&D capabilities, and running customer trials.

Commercial sales begin in mid-2026. Their first full-scale plant launches in early 2027 with capacity for 1,500 to 2,000 tonnes annually. Within five years, they're targeting 10,000 tonnes of total production capacity.

The Ripple Effect

This model creates wins across the board. Agricultural waste becomes valuable feedstock instead of pollution. Industries reduce fossil fuel dependence. Farming communities earn money from biomass they used to burn.

Europe will likely be their first international market, driven by strict regulations on sustainable content and emissions. But the bigger shift is India moving from consuming global materials innovation to producing it.

The science behind bio-based materials has existed for decades. The breakthrough is proving they can replace petroleum products at industrial scale without asking customers to compromise.

One startup won't solve climate change alone, but altM is building the manufacturing infrastructure that could make sustainable materials the obvious choice instead of the expensive one.