[Funding alert] Green energy startup Greenjoules raises $4.5M from Blue Ashva Capital

Greenjoules Pvt Ltd, a Pune-based green energy technology startup, has raised its Series A round of $4.5 million (Rs 33 crore) from Blue Ashva Capital through its Blue Ashva Sampada Fund. The funds raised are a combination of equity and debt, and will be utilised to set up commercial-scale waste-to-energy plants and invest in new R&D initiatives.

Founded in 2018 by V Radhika, VS Shridhar, S Viraraghavan, and R Sethunath, Greenjoules specialises in making renewable 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 wastes-to-energy market gets a boost with this investments from Blue Ashva Capital. With this, we are well-placed to play a significant role in serving the large industrial market, who have board mandates to switch to environment-friendly fuels,” said V S Shridhar, Co-founder and CEO of Greenjoules Pvt Ltd.

“The 2018 Govt of India Biofuels policy intends to convert 5 percent of all diesel being consumed to biofuels by 2030. This will further add opportunities for us in the years to come," added Shridhar.

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Greenjoules uses non-food and non-feed wastes as feedstock to manufacture biofuels. The fuel is manufactured to the BIS1460 Standards that petroleum and diesel follows. It can be used without any modification in the current diesel engines, gensets or boilers in use. This makes Greenjoules biofuels a direct replacement for petroleum and diesel.

"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 ushers in a new era of green diesel with a positive impact on the environment and economy," added Satya Bansal, Founder, Blue Ashva Capital.

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.

"Investment by Blue Ashva Capital 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 commercialise such fuels manufactured from the extraordinary range of agro wastes available in India,” said S Viraraghavan, Founder and Director of Greenjoules Pvt Ltd.