Farm Watt Innovations Secures ₹32.5 Crore Funding Co-Led by IAN Alpha Fund and Rainmatter
IAN Alpha Fund, the second in the series of IAN Group’s VC funds, has co-led the ₹32.5 Crore funding round of Farm Watt Innovations, along with Rainmatter. The fresh capital will be utilised to strengthen the supply chain for India's rapidly expanding bioenergy sector, increase the number of biomass collection networks, construct additional aggregation hubs, invest in machinery, and develop its workforce.
Founded in 2023 by Kumar Neelendu, Kumar Neelendu brings over 23 years of diverse leadership experience, with the majority of his career dedicated to rural development, spanning financial inclusion, agriculture, and sustainable livelihood initiatives.
Since 2015, he has been actively involved in the renewable energy and bioenergy sector, working closely with European technology partners to secure the marketing rights for several advanced and future-ready technologies in the Compressed Biogas (CBG) industry. He has played a key role in introducing and commercialising these technologies across India and international markets.
Recognising a critical gap in the emerging bioenergy ecosystem, Neelendu founded Farmwatt Innovations. He observed that while millions of tonnes of agricultural residue were being openly burned every year, the SATAT initiative had simultaneously triggered rapid investment in CBG and other green energy projects. However, there was no organised platform to connect biomass availability with the growing industry demand.
Going forward, Farmwatt aims to expand beyond aggregation and technology integration by developing its own portfolio of CBG, bio-pellet, and biochar plants, creating a fully integrated circular bioeconomy platform that delivers environmental, social, and economic impact. Approximately 92 million tonnes of crop residue are burned annually in India, contributing considerably to soil degradation and air pollution while releasing an estimated 34 million tonnes of CO2 into the sky. In addition, India produces around 500 million tons of agricultural residue a year; much of it is underutilised even though it has the potential to be used as feedstock for renewable energy.
The Government of India's SATAT (Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation) policy, which is propelling the swift growth of compressed biogas (CBG) facilities throughout the nation, has given this option even more impetus. However, the absence of a dependable, well-organised biomass supply chain that can produce high-quality feedstock on a large scale continues to be one of the industry's key problems.
The investment underlines IAN Alpha Fund's conviction that India's clean energy transition would depend on a robust biomass supply chain. They have created a unique strategy that helps both farmers and bioenergy companies by fusing an organised aggregation network with a thorough understanding of rural markets. The company is well-positioned to grow as the need for biomass continues to rise, thanks to its seasoned founding team, expanding network of farmers, and solid industry alliances.
Kumar Neelendu, Founder & Managing Director, Farm Watt Innovations, said, “This investment marks an important milestone in Farm Watt's journey towards building a scalable circular bioeconomy. As on the one hand, we had industries coming up in the biogas sector, like Reliance, IOCL, HPCL, BPCL. And, on the other, we had a situation where farmers were burning agri-waste. We thought it was the best time to get into the business.”
Sarika Saxena, Managing Partner at IAN Alpha Fund, said, “India’s transition to clean energy hinges on solving a massive, dual-sided challenge: managing millions of tonnes of underutilized crop residue while meeting the bioenergy sector’s soaring demand for reliable biomass. This isn’t just an environmental hurdle—it’s a massive supply-chain opportunity.
Farm Watt is capturing this market by building the missing link between farmers and the renewable energy ecosystem. Through their dependable biomass aggregation network, they are simultaneously curbing stubble burning, boosting rural incomes, and accelerating India’s circular bioeconomy. We are proud to back a team whose deep rural market expertise and sharp execution capabilities position them to become a definitive leader in the space.”
Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Bihar are among the states that the company intends to grow. Additionally, it intends to grow into digital biomass supply chain solutions, carbon credits, biochar, biomass preprocessing, and Bio-CBG initiatives.
The demand for a dependable biomass supply chain is anticipated to increase quickly as India keeps investing in compressed biogas and renewable energy. By lowering stubble burning, raising farmer earnings, and assisting the nation's move to cleaner energy, Farm Watt hopes to play a significant part in this change.
