Chennai's Viridian Ingni raises Rs 1.47 crore for rare-earth-free EV motors

Viridian Ingni Propulsion, a Chennai deep-tech start-up incubated at IIT Madras Research Park, has raised Rs 1.47 crore in a pre-seed round led by Inflection Point Ventures (IPV), according to announcements reported on Thursday, October 29, 2026. The company makes electric motors that do not use rare-earth magnets, along with the controllers and software that run them, and says it will use the money to move from tested prototypes to pilot production, certification and its first customer deliveries.

Small Indian electric vehicles, from e-rickshaws to scooters, depend on electric motors, and many of the motors in use rely on permanent magnets made with rare-earth elements such as neodymium. Viridian's approach is to use cheaper ferrite magnets and a rotor design that draws much of its pulling force from its shape. That design is called a synchronous reluctance motor: the rotor turns because it is built to line up with the magnetic field, and the small ferrite magnets "assist" it to improve output. If such motors reach production at the right cost and performance, vehicle makers would have a domestically designed option that does not depend on rare-earth supply.

The round is small by start-up standards, but its make-up says something about how deep-tech companies outside the big consumer-internet hubs are being built. About a quarter of the roughly Rs 2 crore the company has gathered so far, Rs 53.75 lakh, came as grants rather than equity. These came from a mix of state, central and institutional sources: SIPCOT, the Tamil Nadu government's industrial development agency; the MeitY Startup Hub of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology; NIDHI PRAYAS, a Department of Science and Technology programme that funds young innovators to build prototypes; the Rural Technology and Business Incubator (RTBI) at IIT Madras Research Park; and Cummins through its corporate social responsibility funds. Grants do not dilute the founders' stake, which matters for a hardware company that must spend heavily on testing before it earns any revenue.

The next step is certification. In India, vehicle parts and vehicles must be tested and approved, a process called homologation, by agencies such as the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and the International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT). The company has listed this as a main use of the new money. Letters of intent for 350 motors are not orders, but they show that at least two buyers want to test the product once it is ready.

IPV co-founder Mitesh Shah said the start-up is filling a critical gap in India's EV and propulsion ecosystem by developing its whole technology stack, covering motors, controllers and firmware, in-house. Founder Sriram G said the company aims to make Indian-designed propulsion systems a preferred choice for makers of EVs, drones and industrial equipment.

Short-term: The company plans to set up pilot production tooling, put its controller firmware through validation and begin ARAI or ICAT certification, while hiring key engineering and business staff. Its first deliveries to the customers that signed letters of intent depend on that certification.

Long-term: If the motors pass certification and meet cost targets, Indian makers of e-rickshaws, two-wheelers, air-conditioning compressors and solar pumps could have a rare-earth-free, locally designed motor supplier. The case also shows how state and central grant schemes can carry a hardware start-up through its riskiest early stage.

Who is affected: E-rickshaw and two-wheeler makers looking for local motor suppliers; farm-technology and mobility firms such as the two customers named; engineering graduates in Tamil Nadu seeking deep-tech jobs; and other founders weighing grants from SIPCOT, MeitY Startup Hub and NIDHI PRAYAS.

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