IIT Madras start-up Wankel Energy raises $1 million to expand clean energy tech
- ByStartupStory | October 24, 2025
Chennai-based deep-tech startup Wankel Energy Systems, incubated at IIT Madras, has raised US $1 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Shastra VC and a group of strategic angel investors.
Founded by researchers from IIT Madras, Wankel Energy Systems is developing a patented rotary device called the Phoenix Expander that recovers wasted potential energy from industrial steam pressure-reducing valves (PRVs) and converts it into clean, usable electricity.
India has more than 45,000 industrial steam boilers generating over 1.26 billion tonnes of steam annually across sectors like food, dairy, textiles, paper, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. A large portion of this steam energy is lost through PRVs — a loss estimated at nearly ₹66,000 crore every year.
With this new infusion of capital, Wankel Energy plans to deploy six or more Phoenix units in real-world industrial environments, followed by a larger rollout of over 1,000 units across India and global markets in the next decade.
Each Phoenix unit integrates seamlessly into existing plant infrastructure, offering a payback period of 6–24 months and enabling annual savings of up to ₹50 lakh per valve. The system also contributes significantly to sustainability efforts by reducing more than 180 tonnes of CO₂ emissions per installation each year.
Commenting on the innovation, Prof. Satyanarayanan Seshadri, Co-founder and Advisor at Wankel Energy Systems, said, “Steam remains indispensable to industrial operations, yet its energy potential is vastly under-utilised. The Phoenix Expander allows industries to recover that wasted energy, improving efficiency while supporting a cleaner planet.”
This milestone marks a major step for India’s clean-tech and deep-engineering ecosystem, showcasing how homegrown innovation can transform industrial efficiency and sustainability on a global scale.
Follow Startup Story
Related Posts
