Chirag Chawla of Electrent Energy on Scaling Lithium Energy Storage, Clean Power Adoption, and Building Reliable Backup Solutions for India

StartupTalky presents Recap'25, a series of exclusive interviews where we connect with founders and industry leaders to reflect on their journey in 2025 and discuss their vision for the future.

In this edition of Recap’25, StartupTalky speaks with Chirag Chawla, Founder & CEO of Electrent Energy, who reflects on building a clean-energy solutions company at a time when India’s power backup ecosystem is undergoing a fundamental shift from conventional systems to advanced lithium-based energy storage. Chawla shares how Electrent Energy was founded with the vision of making next-generation energy storage practical, safe, and accessible for Indian homes, businesses, and industrial users.

He goes on to discuss how the rapid adoption of lithium batteries, the rise of rooftop solar, and increasing focus on safety and efficiency have reshaped the energy storage landscape. The conversation explores Electrent Energy’s emphasis on LFP lithium technology, low-maintenance and solar-ready systems, disciplined manufacturing economics, and its roadmap for building a trusted omnichannel clean-energy brand across India while navigating the realities of capital, scale, and long-term execution.

StartupTalky: What does Electrent Energy do? What was the motivation/vision with which you started? 

Chirag Chawla: Electrent Energy is a clean-energy solutions company focused on advanced lithium battery energy storage systems for homes, businesses, and industrial applications.  We design and deliver reliable, efficient, and scalable power backup and energy storage solutions that support solar integration, reduce dependence on conventional power backup products, and help customers manage power outages and rising electricity costs more effectively. Our vision is to make the next-generation energy storage practical, safe, and accessible for Indian consumers.

StartupTalky: What is/are the USP/s of your products?

Chirag Chawla: Electrent Energy’s products stand out for their advanced lithium battery technology, high safety standards, and real-world reliability. Our systems are built using BIS certified A grade LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) cells that ensure longer life cycles, faster charging, and superior thermal stability compared to conventional batteries. The products are compact, wall-mountable, and designed for seamless integration with solar and grid power, making them ideal for modern homes and commercial setups. 

Additionally, our energy storage solutions are near zero maintenance, deliver consistent performance even during extended power cuts, and are engineered specifically for Indian power conditions, offering users a smarter, cleaner, and more dependable energy backup experience.

StartupTalky: How has the industry you are in changed in recent years and how has Electrent Energy adapted to these changes?

Chirag Chawla: The energy storage and power backup industry has evolved rapidly in recent years, driven by changing consumer needs and clean energy adoption.

Key industry changes:

• Shift from traditional lead-acid batteries to advanced lithium energy storage
• Rapid growth of rooftop solar and hybrid power systems
• Increased focus on safety, efficiency, and long battery life

How Electrent Energy adapted:

• Introduced high-performance LFP lithium battery solutions
• Designed products compatible with solar and grid power
• Focused on compact, low-maintenance, and safety-driven systems tailored for Indian conditions

Electrent Energy has aligned its innovation and product strategy with the industry’s move towards smarter, cleaner, and more reliable energy solutions.

StartupTalky: What key metrics do you track to check the Electrent Energy's growth and performance?

Chirag Chawla: As a founder, I look at a mix of speed, cost, and customer experience rather than just topline numbers.

One key metric for us is the conversion cycle — how quickly a lead turns into the first sale. It tells us how well our product, pricing, and sales conversations are aligned with market demand.

Post-sale, we closely track service turnaround time. In the energy backup space, reliability matters as much as the product itself. Faster resolution builds long-term trust.

On the operations side, we monitor factory conversion cost and BOM cost versus selling price to ensure we are building efficiently without compromising quality.

Finally, cost to sales helps us understand how sustainably we are growing. If growth comes at the cost of discipline, it doesn’t last.

Together, these metrics give us a clear, honest view of how healthy the business really is.

StartupTalky: What were the most significant challenges Electrent Energy faced in the past year and how did you overcome them? 

Chirag Chawla: One of the biggest challenges we faced this year was funding. Manufacturing startups don’t always fit neatly into traditional startup funding models. While government policies and schemes exist, on the ground, cash flow timing and capital availability remain tough.

At the end of the day, keeping the factory running, paying vendors, and delivering to customers is the founder’s responsibility.

We tackled this with a mix of tight financial discipline, better planning of inventory and production cycles, and by building stronger trust with suppliers and partners. We also became very clear about where to deploy capital and where to say no.

It wasn’t easy, but this phase made us more resilient, more focused, and much stronger as a business.

StartupTalky: What are the different strategies you use for marketing? Tell us about any growth hack that you pulled off.

Chirag Chawla: Electrent uses a combination of digital marketing, content-led education, and on-ground engagement to reach customers and partners. A key focus has been on simplifying the conversation around lithium energy storage and explaining its practical benefits to end users.

Key marketing approaches include:

• Educational content such as explainer videos, installation demos, and product walkthroughs
• Collaborations with electricians, installers, and energy influencers to build trust and credibility
• Digital campaigns focused on regional and high-intent audiences
• Dealer and channel partner activation through training and co-marketing initiatives

One growth initiative that showed strong results was leveraging real installation and testing videos created with industry professionals. These authentic, real-world demonstrations helped generate higher engagement and enquiries compared to conventional promotional formats, and continue to play an important role in awareness and lead generation.

StartupTalky: What are the important tools and software you use to run your business smoothly? 

Chirag Chawla: We use several tools across functions, but we always focus on keeping things simple and effective.

For customer and lead management, DigiWarr plays a key role as our CRM. It helps us track enquiries, manage follow-ups, and stay organised as volumes grow.

For our online presence, Shopify handles website management smoothly. It allows us to update products, content, and customer journeys without heavy tech dependency.

For customer communication and outreach, WATI helps us manage WhatsApp marketing and conversations at scale, which is extremely important for an Indian market like ours.

StartupTalky: How are you integrating AI into your product, whether in features, personalisation, or backend optimisation, and what measurable impact has it created for users?

Chirag Chawla: We are taking a very measured approach to AI.

Right now, our R&D team is exploring practical and genuine applications of AI, especially in areas like performance monitoring, predictive maintenance, and backend optimisation. But we are clear on one thing — we don’t want to add AI just because it sounds exciting.

In a category like energy storage, reliability and safety matter more than buzzwords. So before rolling anything out, we test whether it actually improves user experience, system efficiency, or decision-making.

StartupTalky: What opportunities do you see for future growth in your industry in India and the world? What kind of difference in market behavior have you seen within states in India?

Chirag Chawla: The biggest growth opportunity we see is the rapid shift from lead-acid to lithium batteries. This transition is happening much faster than we expected, especially in higher voltage and higher capacity applications, where lithium has almost become the default choice.

Another strong driver is the growth of solar + lithium battery adoption. After the launch of schemes like the PM Surya Ghar Yojana, we’ve seen a sharp increase in demand for integrated energy storage solutions, both for homes and small businesses.

Across India, market behaviour also varies significantly by state. Some states are more early adopters, driven by higher power outages, commercial usage, or better awareness of long-term cost savings. Other states are still price-sensitive but are quickly warming up as lithium becomes more mainstream.

StartupTalky: How do you plan to expand the Customers, product, and team base in the future?

Chirag Chawla: Our growth plan is centred around diversification.

On the customer side, we want to become a truly omnichannel brand — present everywhere our customers are asking for us. This means expanding across online platforms, offline retail, channel partners, and enterprise touchpoints.

From a product perspective, we will continue to broaden our range to serve different use cases and power needs, while staying focused on quality, safety, and long-term performance.

For the team, our focus is on building a strong execution-first culture. As we scale, we will add people who understand manufacturing, distribution, and customer experience, and who believe in building for the long term.

The goal is simple: grow responsibly, stay close to the customer, and build a brand that people trust across India.

StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with people reading this article who want to get into entrepreneurship?

Chirag Chawla: Entrepreneurship is not easy, and it’s definitely not as glamorous as social media makes it look.

Don’t get fascinated by the praise, the posts, or the headlines. Do it only if you are ready for sleepless nights, constant stress, and long stretches of uncertainty — sometimes for 1,500 days or more — without knowing if you’ll make it or not.

If you’re still excited after hearing this, then you’re probably doing it for the right reasons.

Explore more Recap'25 interviews here.