How Power Industry Veterans Built A ₹55 Cr AR Energy Efficiency Startup That Saves Millions On Energy Bills Every Year For Its 500+ Clients

In a country where power quality issues quietly drain billions from industrial balance sheets every year, a Bangalore-based startup has built a formidable business by fixing problems most factories simply accept as inevitable.

InPhase Power Technologies, a homegrown power quality and energy efficiency startup, has crossed ₹45 crores in revenue and is targeting ₹55 crores—without external funding.

What makes the story remarkable is not just the numbers, but the people behind them.

InPhase was founded by power industry veterans with over 90 years of combined expertise, who chose the harder path of indigenous innovation in a high capital, hardware-intensive sector dominated by MNC competitors.

Engineering College Roommates and How Their Vision Took Shape:

The origins of InPhase trace back to Anna University in Chennai.

Natesh Mayavel, Thiyaneswar MS, and Kamal Elangovan were engineering college roommates with a shared passion for power electronics and engineering systems.

The idea of building a power-quality-focused startup emerged as early as 2005, soon after graduation.

But the power sector is unforgiving territory—high capex, long sales cycles, and zero tolerance for failure—and thus, the trio chose to first build deep industry experience.

“Power quality is not software where you can pivot overnight. It needs credibility, field exposure, and years of learning before customers can trust you,” recalls Natesh Mayavel, now CTO & co-founder of InPhase, during an exclusive interview with Startup Pedia.

Nearly a decade later, in early 2014, the timing finally felt right. The trio brought in Pannalal Biswas, a reputed technologist and former ABB leader, as co-founder and CEO.

With that, InPhase Power Technologies was formally incorporated in July 2014 in Bangalore.

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Bootstrapped in a High-Capital Industry: Early Journey & Challenges

The startup began with an initial investment of just ₹50 lakhs—modest by any standard in power-quality and grid-stability engineering.

From day one, InPhase was fully bootstrapped, relying on revenue generation rather than funding rounds.

“The early years were about survival and discipline. We drew no salaries, reinvested every rupee, and built systems that allowed us to scale without burning capital,”says Kamal Elangovan, co-founder and COO.

Limited capital forced innovative strategies. Products were designed to be rugged from the outset, minimising rework and field failures.

The team built self-testing systems to eliminate expensive test benches and developed in-house automation software to cut manpower costs.

Early vendors played a crucial role, extending credit periods and effectively acting as indirect investors. Banks provided working capital loans, often backed by personal guarantees, pledged property, and even gold—an all-too-familiar reality for Indian hardware entrepreneurs.

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Losses, Resilience, and Winning Trust in the Market:

The entrepreneurial journey was anything but smooth for the founders.

InPhase faced early losses when a major product failure forced the company to replace installations worth ₹40–50 lakhs, followed by another tens of lakhs spent to rectify them.

Instead of evading responsibility, the founders took full ownership.

"In the power engineering sector, trust is everything. We decided early that establishing long-term credibility mattered more than short-term losses,"Pannalal Biswas, the CEO & co-founder of InPhase, explains to Startup Pedia.

That decision became a defining moment for the young company!

Clients took note of a startup willing to stand behind its products in a market dominated by multinational players. Legal challenges and intense scrutiny from MNC competitors only strengthened execution discipline and technical prowess.

“Our clients were genuinely surprised that a young startup could deliver rugged, high-quality power solutions where established players struggled. Our first sale came within three months, and in six months we had already served nearly 30 clients,” says Thiyaneswar MS, co-founder & Head of Engineering at InPhase.

InPhase in Detail: Designing Power Quality Solutions for India & Beyond

Today, InPhase designs and manufactures active-compensation-based power-quality solutions aimed at harmonics mitigation, voltage stability, energy efficiency, and grid imbalances.

The company serves power-intensive industries such as steel, cement, textiles, automobiles, metros, railways, and renewable energy.

Its key product offerings include Active Harmonic Filters (AHF), Static VAR Generators (SVG), Hybrid Active Filters, and Medium Voltage (MV) STATCOM systems.

The flagship ASTRA platform addresses solar power and utility-scale grid stability challenges.

“InPhase products are engineered specifically for Indian grid conditions. European systems are often oversized and expensive. We build compact, rugged alternatives that perform reliably even in harsh Indian environments,”Thiyaneswar MS explains.

As of today, the installed capacity has crossed 600,000 Amperes across 10+ countries, serving more than 500 clients.

InPhase’s ‘Made-in-India’ products are designed to minimise energy losses, enhance voltage stability, and reduce import dependence—aligned closely with national policy goals like Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India.

InPhase’s differentiation lies not only in hardware but also in services.

The company offers comprehensive power quality services, including energy audits, harmonic audits, power quality improvement studies, and power factor enhancement.

These services help heavy industries achieve regulatory compliance, reduce kVAh billing penalties, and protect expensive equipment. Indirectly, InPhase also supports carbon emissions reduction by improving industrial energy efficiency.

“Power quality problems are silent profit killers. Fixing them can deliver consistent 10–15% energy savings, which for heavy industries translates into millions every year,”Natesh Mayavel comments.

From steel and cement plants to metro rail systems and renewable energy installations, InPhase has positioned itself as a specialist rather than a generalist—an intentional strategy in a highly complex and competitive B2B market.

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Revenue Growth, Recognition, and Market Position: Looking Ahead

Financially, the strategy has paid off. InPhase reported ₹40 crores in revenue in FY 2023–24, growing to over ₹45 crores in FY 2024–25.

The company is close to achieving its target of ₹55 crores in FY 2025–26, driven by pan-India expansion and exports.

The startup has secured multiple patents and industry awards, including recognition as one of the ‘Top 10 Industrial Energy Efficiency Consultants’ by India Manufacturing Review and a ‘Top 20 Energy Startup in India’ at the National Startup Awards by DPIIT.

It has also been recognised under the Startup India Initiative, reinforcing its position within the broader Indian startup ecosystem as a serious engineering-led enterprise rather than a venture capital headline.

Unlike many startups chasing scale at any cost, InPhase has remained profitable since inception, with EBIT margins of 10–15%.

Strategic investments are now being considered—not out of necessity, but choice.

“In terms of raising funding, we’re now open to like-minded partners who understand long-term value creation. Future funding rounds would primarily support grid-scale growth and MV STATCOM market expansion, which requires significant capex,” Kamal Elangovan explains.

InPhase aims to transition from a power quality specialist to a global leader in grid stability, renewable energy integration, sustainability, and railway electrification.

The ambitions are bold yet realistic.

“With proven technology and manufacturing excellence, we believe we can grow into a ₹600 crore global enterprise in the next five years. All while staying true to our founding ethos of indigenous innovation and manufacturing excellence in the larger power quality and energy efficiency sector,” Pannalal Biswas concludes with a confident smile on his face.

As the global power quality equipment market is estimated to reach US$ 48.46 billion by 2030, the opportunity for a sustainable, homegrown Indian startup like InPhase is significant.

In an ecosystem obsessed with speed and funding, InPhase's story reminds us that resilience, engineering depth, and founders' experience and vision can quietly build enduring companies—ones that conserve energy, strengthen grids, and save clients millions year after year.

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