IAN Angel Fund, the evergreen fund of IAN Group, has co-led a Rs. 12.5 crore seed investment in Bengaluru-based climate-tech startup CarbonStrong, as the company moves to take its low-carbon cement substitute from customer trials to commercial-scale production.
The round also saw participation from Rainmatter, Social Alpha, Spectrum Impact and Full Circle Ventures. CarbonStrong will use the fresh capital to establish its first production facility, strengthen its team, advance product development and testing, and scale manufacturing. The company plans to build production capacity of up to 100,000 tonnes annually within the next two years.
Founded in 2022 by Harsh Jain, Co-founder and CEO, and Vikramaditya Singh, Co-founder and COO, CarbonStrong has developed materials made from industrial waste that can replace up to 50% of the cement used in concrete.
The company says its materials are around 30% cheaper than cement and can improve concrete durability. A key advantage is that the product can be integrated into existing concrete plants and production processes, allowing manufacturers to adopt the material without significant investment in new equipment.
The opportunity is significant. Cement is a critical input for construction but accounts for more than 8% of global CO2 emissions. At the same time, hundreds of millions of tonnes of industrial waste, including fly ash and slag, are generated every year.
While some of this waste is already used as a partial substitute for cement, existing solutions have limits on how much cement they can replace while maintaining required performance. CarbonStrong is targeting that gap by processing industrial waste into building materials designed to replace a larger share of cement without forcing concrete manufacturers to overhaul their existing operations.
“India will build most of its future in the next 25-30 years. We want every ton of that concrete to be stronger, cost-efficient, and lower in carbon footprint. This investment helps us take our now-proven technology to industrial scale,” said Harsh Jain, Co-founder and CEO, CarbonStrong.
CarbonStrong has already completed multiple customer trials and paid pilots, with its materials used in demonstration projects across Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai.
The startup is now focused on turning those early deployments into long-term supply relationships with ready-mix concrete companies, builders and contractors. It also plans to expand into precast concrete and paver block manufacturing.
With the new funding, CarbonStrong will ramp up production, expand its team and move decisively from pilot projects to commercial operations—positioning industrial waste as a potential lower-cost, lower-carbon alternative to conventional cement at scale.
