Why we invested in Dreamfly Innovations

Dreamfly Innovations has raised $300k in pre-seed round to build non-flammable, high-performance and environment friendly batteries with 10x increased durability and 15-min fast charging capabilities.

India is a mineral deficient but energy-efficient country. Economies, transportation systems and everyday choices are being revamped for a more sustainable future as demands escalate the looming environmental degradation due to pollution. These much needed endeavors towards an electron economy are driven by advancements in battery technology, required to overcome the intermittent nature of renewable power. The advance battery applications governed by varied energy and power density based chemistries offer promising opportunities for battery manufacturers and allied ecosystem stakeholders.

It’s interesting to understand the complementing battery dynamics here. High energy dense (HED) applications include the likes of EVs, consumer electronics, wearables, healthcare (medtech) devices, etc. that seek an improved balance between convenience, reliability and impact. As a result, factors like battery chemistry, battery degradation, thermal efficiency, etc. do not primarily dictate the driving parameters. Whereas with Dreamfly’s focus on high-power dense (HPD) applications across UAVs, aviation and aerospace segments, parameters such as performance, operational efficiency, rate of degradation, reliability, etc. emerge as pivotal determinants propelling the technological advancements.

Current battery chemistries face challenges such as capped energy density, longer charging times, pre-defined output and potential safety risks. The introduction of supercapacitors and graphene holds promise for addressing these issues by offering rapid energy storage (owing to its property of low impedance), varied power output capabilities and enhanced safety. Dreamfly Innovations, with its unique battery proposition addresses operational challenges by developing supercapacitor batteries with 15-min fast charging capabilities, 10x increased cell life, non-flammable properties, active cooling and ~15% reduced weight to drive efficiency. With their deep industry expertise, offered technology overcomes the inherent capacitor properties to self-discharge over time and poor life cycles. Core IPs around carbon fiber-based active cooling mechanism help with effective thermal management enhancing overall efficiency while also providing structural rigidity eliminating vibrational or turbulence-induced damages to the battery.

The startup is co-founded by Dr. Saurabh Markandeya and Kajal Shah. Saurabh is an IISc alumnus and has 15+ years of rich experience in engineering (integration-testing) and techno-commercial aspects. He has worked with Tata Motors and also served as an independent consultant for battery-related strategies for a few leading corporates in the country. Kajal is an NIT-R and IIT-B alumnus with 15+ years of lab-level POC to commercially scalable product development experiences in the automotive space. She has earlier worked with the likes of Tata Motors and GE Aviation to develop and optimize their automotive and jet engines respectively. In this due course, the husband-wife duo realized the role of hardware-led efficiency drivers and co-founded their first startup, Adarin Engineering developing hybrid powertrains. The innovative step-less hybrid transmission coupled with an AI-based driving pattern algorithm resulted in a substantial 30% efficiency improvement. Despite a few early challenges, the prior venture demonstrated promising traction by securing patents and onboarding early customers, resulting in a strategic acquisition before channelizing their focus to solving for high-power led battery applications.

Market Trends

India today witnesses import dependence for battery cells as well as battery manufacturing technology/capability. The landscape is rapidly changing but skewed supply chain and limited R&D efforts adds complexity to further drive performance and reliability. With the government setting ambitious 30% electrification targets by 2030, the industry is witnessing a significant demand for indigenized battery technologies. Our conversations with a few drone OEMs validates the concerns and have shown willingness to pay higher premium given the shortcomings of existing solutions. As a result, Dreamfly is prioritizing immediate commercialization to establish a market presence and intends to gain insights for further R&D avenues.

The global aviation battery market is expected to reach $10.11Bn by 2030 (~12% CAGR) whereas the Global drone battery market is expected to reach $9.60Bn by 2026 (~19% CAGR), with domestic markets expected to reach $2.45Bn by 2028 (~16.2% CAGR). Drones are finding increasing adoption in commercial and non-commercial applications across enterprise, agriculture, defense, and many other sectors with batteries accounting for 15-17% of overall drone costs. Aerospace programs are increasingly becoming the backbone for quite a few services being used today, with batteries accounting for as much as 3-6% of overall program cost.

Why we Invested?

In our conversations with the founders, it was pretty evident that Dreamfly Innovations has integrated form, function and feasibility into their solution. Their focus on aligning battery chemistry, enhanced operational efficiency and adopting an immediate commercialization approach is crucial in the current landscape. Their understanding of product-market timing and the battery value chain demonstrates a balance between performance, reliability, and microeconomic factors. Given the founders’ pedigree, past experiences and complementary skills in core engineering efforts, they are one of the few today in India solving key challenges in the space. We are thrilled to collaborate with Dreamfly in this global opportunity and dream-to-fly beyond limits.

In the past, we at IIMA-CIIE has supported startups building in battery space such as eTrnl Energy, Clean Electric, and Delectrik Systems. Our extensive mobility portfolio includes Chara, ePlane, Nunam, Cell Propulsion and Taqanal Energy.

We’re actively seeking innovative disruptors addressing diverse value propositions. If you’re on such a journey, we would love to add value to your journey and reach out at seed.ciie@iima.ac.in.

Stay tuned for more updates from the innovation continuum.