Voltagen Innovator Newtrace Raises $6.3M to Cut Green Hydrogen Costs

Newtrace, a deeptech startup developing high-performance electrode and electrolyzer technology for green hydrogen production, has raised ₹56.93 crore ($6.3 million) in its Pre-Series A round, led by HDFC Bank Limited and MITSUI SUMITOMO INSURANCE Venture Capital, with participation from Peak XV’s Surge, Aavishkaar Capital, Speciale Invest, Micelio Technology Fund, and angel investors Manish Prataprai Gandhi and Renu Manish Gandhi.

Green hydrogen is emerging as a critical pillar of global decarbonization and is the only scalable clean fuel capable of replacing fossil fuels across sectors such as steel, refining, fertilizers, chemicals, and heavy transport. The global green hydrogen market is projected to reach $38.1 billion by 2029 and expand to $1.4 trillion annually by 2050. Yet today, less than 1 percent of the world’s hydrogen is green, with high costs remaining the biggest barrier.

Green hydrogen currently costs $4 to $10 per kilogram, more than double the cost of conventional grey hydrogen. A significant portion of this cost and inefficiency originates in the electrolyzer stack, particularly the electrode, where most performance losses occur.

At the same time, India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission has set a target of producing 5 million metric tonnes of green hydrogen annually by 2030, supported by ₹19,744 crore in government incentives. However, India currently lacks a domestic supply of high-performance electrolyzer electrodes, creating both a strategic vulnerability and a major opportunity for indigenous innovation.

Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Bengaluru, Newtrace has developed Voltagen, a proprietary advanced electrode technology designed for alkaline water electrolyzers. Voltagen improves energy efficiency, extends system lifetime, and reduces overall hydrogen production costs. Designed as a drop-in replacement for existing electrodes, Voltagen enables electrolyzer manufacturers and hydrogen producers to upgrade performance without redesigning their systems. Newtrace has also commercialized membraneless electrolyzer technology as part of its broader platform.

Newtrace primarily serves electrolyzer OEMs, green hydrogen project developers, and industrial gas companies. Its technology is positioned to support India’s rapidly expanding electrolyzer manufacturing ecosystem, as well as global customers seeking higher efficiency and more reliable supply chains.

Voltagen is built on three core technology pillars: a high-performance catalytic architecture engineered at the micro and nanoscale to improve efficiency, a durable coating system that ensures long operating life under industrial conditions, and a scalable manufacturing process designed for commercial production. These innovations reduce energy consumption per kilogram of hydrogen produced, extend electrode life, and create a domestically available alternative to imported components.

Newtrace was founded by Prasanta Sarkar and Rochan Sinha, who bring deep expertise in electrochemistry, materials science, and industrial scale-up. The company operates from a 30,000 square foot technology center in Bengaluru and is supported by a multidisciplinary team of more than 45 engineers and scientists. It holds multiple patent applications and has received recognition under India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission. The company has also presented its technology to global audiences, including a showcase before Narendra Modi during National Startup Day 2026.

Newtrace Team 

“Green hydrogen’s cost problem is fundamentally a materials and manufacturing challenge,” said Prasanta Sarkar, CEO and Co-Founder of Newtrace. “Voltagen represents a new materials foundation that enables the efficiency and durability required to make green hydrogen cost competitive. This funding allows us to transition from proving the science to scaling manufacturing.”

“We built Newtrace to address the most critical and underinvested component of the electrolyzer stack,” said Rochan Sinha, CTO and Co-Founder of Newtrace. “Our focus now is on translating our technology into reliable, scalable manufacturing that can serve the global hydrogen economy.”

The newly raised capital will support pilot-scale manufacturing, customer validation and supply agreements, and expansion of manufacturing and engineering capabilities. Newtrace expects to begin initial commercial deliveries of Voltagen electrodes within the next 12 months.

About Newtrace:

Newtrace is a climate-tech startup developing and commercializing advanced electrode & stack technology for hydrogen electrolyzers . The vision we swear by is simple - to decarbonize the world through innovation, leaving a cleaner, greener, sustainable future for generations to come. By engineering high-performance electrodes at scale, Newtrace is working to make green hydrogen production economically viable and accelerate the global transition to clean energy. The company combines deep expertise in electrochemistry with scalable manufacturing to address one of the critical cost barriers in the hydrogen economy.

JSW One Platforms raises INR 205 Crores in Series A funding round from Japanese investor Mitsui & Co., Ltd

JSW One Platforms, the B2B e-commerce venture of US$ 22 billion JSW Group, has raised INR 205 Crores from Japan’s Mitsui & Co., Ltd in a series A funding round. The Series A funding round values JSW One Platforms at over INR 2,750 Crores.

The digital adoption and desire to increase resilience in supply chains have prompted Indian MSMEs and enterprises to go online. In January 2021, JSW Group rolled out their e-commerce business, JSW One Platforms, to be an industry-leading platform within India’s manufacturing and construction industries. JSW One Platform leverages JSW Group’s strength in manufacturing and building materials, tech-enabled logistics and credit to be a platform of choice for MSMEs and Enterprises in India. The company launched its e-commerce platform jswonemsme.com in July 2021 and has since become a trusted platform across the country. The company also operates a turn-key home construction business called JSW One Homes.

Mitsui believes that their investment in JSW One Platforms will lead to a restructuring of supply chain in India. JSW One’s digital platform will accelerate the digital discovery of supply across manufacturing and construction industries.

According to Mr Parth Jindal, Director of JSW One Platforms, “I am pleased to welcome Mitsui as an investor in JSW One Platforms. Their decision to invest in our e-commerce business validates our long-term strategic vision to capitalize on technology to take a strong leadership position in the B2B e-commerce sector. India has over 500,000 building and manufacturing MSME’s and as this number grows JSW One aims to cater to all their building materials requirements through our advanced and technology enabled products and services."

Mr Gaurav Sachdeva, CEO of JSW One Platforms, said, “We are delighted to have Mitsui as our first institutional investor. We are excited about their experience of working in the B2B industry across various markets in the world. Their investment will help us penetrate deeper into the industrial and construction industries. We also look forward to bringing other industry segments onto the platform and will continue to leverage technology to be an industry-leading platform for MSMEs."

Mr. Masaharu Okubo, Managing Officer, Country Chairperson in India of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. commented, “Our investment and partnership with JSW One Platforms not only signals our belief in the firm’s robust business model, but also our conviction in the long-term growth prospects of the B2B e-commerce space, which was catalysed by the COVID-19 pandemic. We look forward to working together to realize JSW One Platform’s strategic vision of becoming a key industry player in the region with our contribution for expanding supply source and wider product portfolio for targeting industry.”

JSW One Platforms will utilize the funds to strengthen its market presence and further enhance tech capabilities. The company plans to expand operations in newer geographies like NCR, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh to cater to the majority of the states in India and will also invest in credit, logistics, and technology stack to improve customer experience.

About JSW One Platforms: JSW One Platforms is the e-commerce venture of the US $22 billion JSW Group. It operates a B2B tech-enabled marketplace JSW One MSME, to service the building material needs of Industrial & Construction MSMEs in India. The company also operates a turn-key home construction business called JSW One Homes. JSW One Platforms is leveraging the combined strength of supply & distribution across JSW Group’s Steel, Cement & Paints businesses to build a fully integrated ecosystem for MSMEs and individual home builders.

Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (8031: JP) is a global trading and investment company with a diversified business portfolio that spans approximately 63 countries in Asia, Europe, North, Central & South America, The Middle East, Africa and Oceania. Mitsui has about 5,500(Consolidated 44,000) employees and deploys talent around the globe to identify, develop, and grow businesses in collaboration with a global network of trusted partners. Mitsui has built a strong and diverse core business portfolio covering the Mineral and Metal Resources, Energy, Machinery and Infrastructure, and Chemicals industries. Leveraging its strengths, Mitsui has further diversified beyond its core profit pillars to create multifaceted value in new areas, including innovative Energy Solutions, Healthcare & Nutrition and through a strategic focus on high-growth Asian markets. This strategy aims to derive growth opportunities by harnessing some of the world’s main mega-trends: sustainability, health & wellness, digitalization and the growing power of the consumer. Mitsui has a long heritage in Asia, where it has established a diverse and strategic portfolio of businesses and partners that gives it a strong differentiating edge, provides exceptional access for all global partners to the world’s fastest growing region and strengthens its international portfolio. Mitsui opened its first branch office in India in 1955. For more information on Mitsui & Co’s businesses visit, www.mitsui.com

GOQii Raises $30 Mn from Japan's Mitsui At Valuation of $100-125 Mn

After two years of long wait, wearable startup Goqii Inc has raised over $30 million (about Rs 212 crore) in Series B round of funding round led by Japan's Mitsui & Co. Crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital and Denlow Investment Trust also contributed to the funding round.

GOQii's existing investors DSG Consumer Partners, NEA, Edelweiss Financial Services and Cheetah Mobile also participated in the funding round. Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Tata Group chairman emeritus Ratan Tata, both early backers of the company, also contributed.

Bollywood veteran actress Madhuri Dixit and her husband Shriram Nene, and Neeraj Arora of WhatsApp are also among GOQii's early backers.

Based out of California and Mumbai, GOQii will now foray into overseas markets over the next 12-18 months. The company currently operates in India market, is looking to enter Japan, Asia’s second-largest economy, and by working closely with Mitsui & Co. it s expected to establish its footprints in Japan by next year

With this fresh investment, GOQii now estimated to be valued at $100-125 million, and has raised a total of $44 million in funding over seven rounds including this one.

Founded by Vishal Gondal, the former CEO & Founder of Indiagames, GOQii is headquartered in California, US with offices in Mumbai, India and Shenzhen, China. GOQii became commercially available in India in August 2014 and plans to expand its services to the Middle East, the United States, and Singapore.

Goqii is Gondal’s second startup. He had earlier founded online and mobile gaming company IndiaGames, which he sold to Walt Disney in 2011, in a deal valued at $80-100 million.

“Japan is a very mature market, along with being one of the largest insurance markets in the world… As part of the deal, we will be working with Mitsui to launch a local chain in Japan,” said Vishal Gondal, founder & CEO of GOQii.

“There will be multiple synergies with the Mitsui Group, within and outside India… We will be working with the different companies in Mitsui Group’s portfolio across India, Japan and Malaysia down the line,” Gondal told Economic Times.

In 2016, GOQii was at top spot in the wearable segment for the second quarter of CY 2016 with 16.1% market share, beating China's Xiaomi, a report by International Data Corporation (IDC) had said.

According to IDC India's 2018 report, Indian wearables market witnessed growth of 66% year over year and 40% sequentially in the second quarter of 2018.

Basic wearables account for over 85% of the total number of shipments in India. Fitbit has close to a 60% market share of the health and fitness trackers in India and more than 80% of the market for devices priced above $100. In the affordable segment, GOQii is the overall leader in the Indian wearable market followed by China's Xiaomi, which has Mui Band for India market.

Source - Economic Times