IIT Gandhinagar spin-out Cellegant raises ₹2.61 crore to build hydrogen fuel-cell drivetrains for long-endurance drones
Cellegant Energy Systems, founded by IIT Gandhinagar's Prof. Atul Bhargav, has raised ₹2.61 crore from GVFL, CoCreate Aarambh and IIEC. It is building hydrogen fuel-cell power systems for drones, starting with a 35-kg drone programme.
Battery-powered drones have a basic limit. Lithium-ion cells store relatively little energy for their weight, so most multirotor drones stay in the air for well under an hour, and adding payload cuts that further. Hydrogen fuel cells are one of the most promising ways around this. An IIT Gandhinagar spin-out has now raised money to build them in India.
Cellegant Energy Systems has raised ₹2.61 crore from GVFL Prarambh Fund Trust, CoCreate Aarambh and IIEC, the incubator at IIT Gandhinagar. The round was reported in the first week of November 2026.
Who is Cellegant?
Cellegant Energy Systems Pvt Ltd was incorporated in 2022 and is led by founder Prof. Atul Bhargav of IIT Gandhinagar. Bhargav previously worked on product development at Ballard Power Systems, one of the world's best-known fuel-cell companies.
The company makes hydrogen fuel-cell drivetrains: the power systems that turn stored hydrogen into electricity for a vehicle's motors. Drones are the first market, but the company also lists marine and underwater vehicles, autonomous ground vehicles, quadruped robots and stationary power as targets.
The technology
According to the company, its systems combine three main ideas:
- Hybrid power management. The fuel cell is paired with a battery, so the battery handles peak loads such as take-off and the fuel cell supplies steady power for endurance.
- Passive hydrogen recirculation. Unused hydrogen is recycled within the fuel cell without a separate powered pump, which cuts weight and parasitic power loss.
- Solid-state chemical hydrogen storage. Hydrogen is held in a chemical medium instead of only as high-pressure gas, with the aim of improving system-level energy storage and handling; actual benefits require testing.
Cellegant says it has already demonstrated hydrogen fuel-cell systems for UAVs, as well as a custom drone built around a long-endurance power pack.
What the money is for
Cellegant's near-term goal is a 35-kg hydrogen-powered drone. It aims to take this programme from technology readiness level (TRL) 3 to TRL 6 within six to twelve months, which means moving from a lab proof-of-concept to a prototype tested in a relevant environment. Reports differ on whether "35 kg" means the drone's total weight or its payload capacity. The funds will go to technology development, intellectual-property protection and team expansion.
Why it matters
Long-endurance drones matter to Indian users. Agricultural spraying, pipeline and power-line inspection, border surveillance, disaster response and logistics in hilly areas all need more flight time and payload than batteries can easily give. Defence applications would require separate evidence of endurance, payload, reliability and operating signatures.
The round also shows how Gujarat's early-stage deep-tech funding works. Ahmedabad-based GVFL is a long-standing venture investor in the state, and pairing its Prarambh fund with an institute incubator gives a lab-stage company enough capital to reach a flight-ready prototype.
What to watch
₹2.61 crore is a modest sum for hardware, and TRL 6 is a demanding target for a 6–12 month window. The milestones that will show whether Cellegant is on track are a flying 35-kg prototype, credible endurance figures from independent testing, and a first pilot customer from defence, agriculture or infrastructure. The company's technical claims come from its own statements, and independent flight-performance data was not established in this review.
Sources
- https://india.entrepreneur.com/business-news/cellegant-raises-inr-2-61-cr-for-hydrogen-powered-drones
- https://india.entrepreneur.com/business-news/startup-roundup-dispatch-cellegant-raise-funds-taisho-ventures-wins-dbs-award
- https://indiatechnologynews.in/gvfl-backs-indigenous-drone-innovation-as-cellegant-raises-%E2%82%B926-1-million-to-develop-hydrogen-powered-systems/
- https://startuptalky.com/news/daily-indian-funding-roundup-key-news-4-november-2026/
- https://www.newskart.com/eloelo-bags-80-million-and-cellegant-backs-hydrogen-drone-technology/
- https://x.com/iitgn/status/1808858784850169881
- https://www.business-standard.com/markets/news/time-technoplast-rises-3-percent-after-successful-trials-of-hydrogen-powered-drone-125122200209_1.html