Leanwatts: Why EV Power Infrastructure Is a Startup Opportunity
Share this article
India’s electric-vehicle story is often told through the companies building scooters, motorcycles, cars and commercial vehicles. But underneath that visible layer is another market that could become equally important: the power electronics and infrastructure that make electrification possible.
Hyderabad-based Leanwatts is building in that less visible part of the EV ecosystem. Founded in October 2023, the startup has raised approximately ₹18.15 crore ($2 million) in seed funding, led by Trivest Partners, with participation from angel investors Abraham George and Alok Rungta.
The company is using the capital to expand manufacturing, strengthen R&D, build testing infrastructure and develop new power-conversion platforms.
The bigger story is not just Leanwatts' funding round. It is what the investment says about the next phase of India's EV opportunity.
EVs Need More Than Batteries
The growth of electric vehicles creates demand far beyond the vehicle itself.
Every EV requires systems that manage the flow and conversion of electricity. Chargers, power modules, rectifiers, inverters and related electronics determine how efficiently energy moves between the grid, charging equipment, batteries and vehicles.
Leanwatts began with EV charging and currently develops portable and onboard chargers ranging from 500W to 6.6kW. These products serve electric two-wheelers, L2 and L5 vehicles and e-tractors.
Its customer ecosystem includes EV companies such as Ultraviolette, Baxy Mobility, Clean Electric, Ruchira Green and Moonrider.
That puts Leanwatts in an interesting position.
Rather than competing to sell an EV directly to consumers, it is attempting to become part of the technology infrastructure behind multiple EV manufacturers.
Why Power Electronics Is Becoming Strategic
The transition from internal-combustion vehicles to electric mobility changes the technology stack.
The engine is replaced by motors and batteries, but that creates a new requirement for sophisticated power-management systems.
For startups, this creates several opportunities:
EV chargers
Onboard charging systems
Power modules
DC and AC conversion
Charging infrastructure
Energy-management systems
Hybrid inverters
Grid-connected equipment
Leanwatts is already expanding beyond chargers into public charging solutions, rectifiers, power modules, hybrid inverters and broader power-conversion applications.
That expansion could ultimately be more important than the company's initial EV charging business.
The India-Specific Engineering Advantage
Power electronics is not simply about designing a product once and selling it everywhere.
Indian EV and energy applications can involve voltage fluctuations, high temperatures, dust, humidity and different operating conditions. OEMs can also have very different technical requirements.
Leanwatts says it has built in-house capabilities covering hardware design, embedded firmware, software, product engineering, validation, testing and quality at its Hyderabad facility.
This vertical capability could become a competitive advantage.
Instead of relying entirely on imported technology or external engineering suppliers, the company can potentially customise products around the requirements of Indian manufacturers.
That matters because localisation is becoming increasingly important as India's EV ecosystem matures.
Why Investors Are Funding Hardware Again
India's startup investment boom was largely associated with software, consumer internet and fintech businesses because these companies could scale without building factories or laboratories.
Deeptech hardware is different.
A power-electronics company needs engineers, laboratories, testing equipment, manufacturing capabilities, component suppliers and quality-control systems before it can reach meaningful production volumes.
That makes hardware startups more capital-intensive and slower to scale.
Yet the latest Leanwatts round suggests investors see an opportunity in this model.
The company's new funding will support R&D, engineering talent, component localisation, supply-chain expansion, manufacturing capacity and testing infrastructure.
The bet is that the upfront complexity can eventually create a stronger technology moat.
The Bigger Opportunity Is the Energy Stack
Leanwatts' strategy also points to an important shift.
The future EV company may not necessarily be the company selling the vehicle.
It could be the company supplying the energy infrastructure and power-conversion technology underneath the vehicle ecosystem.
As electric mobility expands, the same power-electronics expertise can potentially be applied to charging infrastructure, renewable energy systems, industrial applications and other energy-transition markets.
That gives companies like Leanwatts an opportunity to build a business that extends beyond EVs.
In fact, the company's current roadmap already reflects that direction, with expansion into broader energy and power-conversion applications.
The Numbers Still Have to Catch Up
There is, however, an important reality behind the opportunity.
Leanwatts is still an early-stage company. Its technology may be promising, but the next challenge is industrial scale.
The company is targeting an annualised revenue run-rate of approximately ₹60 crore by March 2027, driven by scaling existing EV programmes and entering new power-electronics applications.
Achieving that target will require more than technical capability.
It will depend on production reliability, OEM adoption, component availability, gross margins, working-capital management and the ability to convert engineering programmes into recurring commercial volumes.
For a hardware startup, those are often the difference between an interesting technology company and a sustainable business.
What Leanwatts Signals About India's EV Market
The important lesson from Leanwatts is that India's EV opportunity is becoming deeper.
The first phase focused heavily on vehicles.
The next phase could increasingly involve the infrastructure surrounding them.
Chargers, power electronics, energy management, batteries, software and grid integration can become large markets in their own right.
That means the next generation of EV startups may not always have a vehicle on the road carrying their logo.
Some may be quietly powering, charging or managing thousands of them.
Leanwatts is betting on precisely that layer.
Its success will depend on whether it can turn Indian engineering and manufacturing capabilities into a scalable power-electronics business. If it does, the company could demonstrate that one of the biggest EV opportunities in India may not be in building the car or scooter—but in building the technology that keeps the entire electric ecosystem running.