Ossus raises pre-Series A round funding

Green energy startup Ossus Biorenewables has secured $2.4 million in a pre-Series A round co-led by Gruhas and Rainmatter Climate.

The company plans to utilise the funds to accelerate the deployment of Ossus’s OB HydraCel across other sectors, including refining, foods, brewing, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals industries, and produce 3-5 tons of green hydrogen each day before the end of the year.

The Bengaluru-based startup claims to be working with steel, starch and energy companies to produce hydrogen gas at less than one dollar per kilogram and is planning expansion across other process industries. It competes with the likes of ReNew Power, Avaada Energy, Cygni Energy, Sea6 Energy, Log9 Materials among others.

Co-founded in 2017 by Suruchi Rao, Shanta Rao, and Kamar Suhail Basha, Ossus uses waste carbon in industrial effluents as the starting material for green hydrogen. The startup has developed an AI-powered, intelligent bioreactor, the OB HydraCel which accesses carbon from wastewater from process industries and supplies them with on-demand, on-site green hydrogen gas. Ossus’s core IP finds roots in using microorganisms sourced directly from effluents as catalysts for green hydrogen production.

Ossus says that its innovative efforts align with India’s call to indigenously produce 5 million metric tonnes of green hydrogen each year without importing foreign-made electrolysers before 2025 and currently deployed their signature product to Jharkhand for one of steel manufacturers.