altM | Biomaterials from Agricultural Waste altM | Biomaterials from Agricultural Waste

altM | Biomaterials from Agricultural Waste

Upcycling & Circular Materials

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production, SDG 13 – Climate Action, SDG 15 – Life on Land, SDG 9 – Industry Innovation and Infrastructure

Company Overview

altM is a Bengaluru-based deep-tech materials company founded in 2022 by Apoorv Garg and Yugal Raj Jain, both former Tesla engineers, alongside scientist and co-founder Dr. Harshad Velankar. The company develops and manufactures biomaterials and biochemicals derived from lignocellulosic agricultural residues, including rice straw, sugarcane bagasse, wheat straw, and coconut husk.

The company’s work centers on altMorph, a proprietary biorefinery process that separates biomass into cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin fractions through biomass pretreatment, thermochemical deconstruction, and catalytic upgradation. These fractions are converted into functional materials designed to substitute petrochemical-derived inputs across cosmetics, packaging, construction, textiles, and industrial chemicals.

In August 2023, altM raised a 3.5 million dollar seed funding round led by Omnivore, with participation from Theia Ventures, Thai Wah Ventures, and Aureolis Ventures, among others. In February 2026, the company commissioned an integrated biorefinery pilot plant in Bengaluru with a production capacity of 15 to 50 tonnes per annum, marking its transition from laboratory-scale research to pilot manufacturing.

altM has filed multiple patents covering its biomass deconstruction and upgradation processes. Its current product portfolio includes a cellulose-based rheology modifier for cosmetics, a formaldehyde-free lignin wood adhesive, and a lignin-derived SPF booster for sunscreen formulations, with additional molecules under development for textile and industrial chemical applications.

Why These SDGs Matter

altM’s work engages several interconnected sustainability goals. Its proprietary biorefinery technology represents a form of industrial innovation that builds new, less resource-intensive manufacturing pathways for materials historically derived from fossil sources, aligning with the goal of resilient infrastructure and innovation. By converting agricultural residues into commercial inputs, the company supports more responsible consumption and production patterns, redirecting waste streams that would otherwise be burned or discarded into value-generating industrial materials. The substitution of petrochemical-derived chemicals with bio-based alternatives contributes to climate action by reducing the carbon intensity of material supply chains. Because a portion of altM’s feedstock consists of crop residues that farmers might otherwise burn, a practice linked to air pollution and soil degradation, the company’s sourcing model also connects to the protection of terrestrial ecosystems and sustainable land management.

Products & Services
  • Cellulose-based rheology modifiers for cosmetics
  • Formaldehyde-free lignin-based wood adhesives
  • Lignin-derived SPF booster (altScreen) for sunscreens
  • Biomass pretreatment and thermochemical deconstruction services
  • Catalytic upgradation of biomass fractions into biochemicals
  • Custom biomaterial development for industrial partners
  • Feedstock-agnostic biorefining across multiple agricultural residues
Business Challenges Solved
  • Industrial reliance on petrochemical-derived raw materials
  • High carbon footprint of conventional cosmetic and adhesive ingredients
  • Formaldehyde emissions from conventional wood adhesives
  • Underutilization of agricultural residue as an industrial feedstock
  • Limited availability of scalable, cost-competitive bio-based material alternatives
  • Feedstock volatility for companies dependent on single biomass sources
Approach & Methodology

altM’s technical approach is built around altMorph, a proprietary biorefinery platform that operates in two stages. The first stage, deconstruction, breaks down lignocellulosic biomass into its component fractions, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and in some cases silica, using a thermochemical fractionation process that operates at moderate temperatures below 200°C without external pressure and with limited use of chemicals. The second stage, upgradation, converts these fractions into functional bio-chemicals and biomaterials through in-house, proprietary processing routes.

A distinguishing feature of the platform is its feedstock flexibility. Rather than being tied to a single biomass source, altM’s process can accommodate multiple agricultural and organic residues, including sugarcane bagasse, rice straw, wheat straw, grasses, and industrial waste such as tea leaf and brewery byproducts. This is paired with a design intended to scale from gram-level laboratory output to ton-level industrial production within a single integrated system.

The company’s pilot facility in Bengaluru, commissioned in February 2026, was built to validate throughput, yield, and unit economics under real manufacturing conditions ahead of commercial-scale production. altM has also stated it is developing a decentralized, hub-and-spoke processing model intended to allow localized biomass processing near crop residue sources, reducing logistics costs and improving supply chain resilience.

Market Position

altM operates in the emerging bio-based materials and biorefining segment, positioning itself as a supplier of drop-in, industrial-grade material substitutes for petrochemical-derived inputs. Its primary customers are manufacturers in cosmetics and personal care, wood products and adhesives, and industrial chemicals seeking lower-carbon input materials compatible with existing production systems. The company differentiates itself through a feedstock-agnostic, multi-product biorefinery model that extracts value from multiple biomass fractions within a single integrated process, rather than specializing in one output stream. This approach places altM alongside global biomaterials and biorefinery peers, while its India-based feedstock sourcing and manufacturing base is oriented toward serving both domestic and export-oriented industrial supply chains.

Procurement Considerations
  • Verify current production capacity against required order volumes
  • Confirm compatibility of bio-based inputs with existing formulation or manufacturing processes
  • Request third-party or in-house performance data comparing materials to incumbent petrochemical inputs
  • Clarify supply consistency given the company’s pilot-to-commercial production stage
  • Assess lead times, given the company’s early manufacturing scale-up phase
  • Confirm any applicable regulatory or safety documentation for the target industry
  • Evaluate pricing competitiveness relative to conventional alternatives at required volumes
Funding, Recognition & Ecosystem
  • 3.5 million dollar seed funding round (August 2023), led by Omnivore’s OmniX Bio initiative
  • Seed round investors including Theia Ventures, Thai Wah Ventures, Aureolis Ventures, and other individual investors
  • Multiple patents filed covering biomass deconstruction and upgradation processes
  • Research and processing partnership referenced with Numaligarh Refinery
  • Featured in CB Insights’ Advanced Materials and Decarbonization Tech Expert Collections
Natnavi Analysis

altM represents a growing category of Indian deep-tech startups attempting to convert a persistent environmental liability, agricultural residue that is frequently burned, into a commercial industrial input. Its founders bring manufacturing and scale-up experience from Tesla, which shapes the company’s stated emphasis on production discipline and unit economics rather than laboratory demonstration alone.

The company’s biorefinery model, extracting multiple material fractions from a single biomass stream, is a structurally different approach from single-output biomaterials companies, and if proven at scale, could improve the economics that have historically challenged biomaterials ventures moving from pilot to commercial production. The February 2026 pilot plant commissioning is a meaningful operational milestone, giving altM real production data ahead of a planned commercial facility.

At the same time, altM remains an early-stage company. Its transition from pilot-scale output of 15 to 50 tonnes annually to full commercial manufacturing, targeted for 2027, represents the primary execution risk common to deep-tech materials startups, where scale-up failures are common industry-wide. Procurement teams engaging with altM should weigh its technical differentiation against its current production stage and evolving supply consistency.

Sources & References
Website
Founded: 2022
Company Stage: Startup
Headquarters
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Geographic Presence
altM is headquartered and operates its research, pilot production, and manufacturing facilities in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, with its feedstock sourcing focused on Indian agricultural regions. Its industrial customer base spans sectors including cosmetics, packaging, and industrial chemicals within India, with the company positioning its materials as substitutes usable by manufacturers more broadly.
Solution Type
Manufacturer, Research & Innovation, Technology Provider
Sustainability Outcomes
Carbon Reduction, Circular Economy, Resource Efficiency, Waste Reduction
Industries Served
Agriculture & Food, Chemicals & Materials, Construction & Real Estate, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Manufacturing, Textiles & Apparel
Last Reviewed: August 22, 2026

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