Entellus Raises ₹50 Crore to Scale India’s Rare Earth Manufacturing Base

Entellus Industries, a Chennai-based rare earth metals and alloy manufacturing company, has raised ₹50 crore ($5.5 million) in its second funding round, led by ZeroW, a boutique investment firm backed by the Mekapati Family Office, promoters of KMC Group. ValPro advised on the transaction.

The funding marks a scale-up phase for Entellus as it moves beyond early capability-building into commercial expansion at a time when rare earth supply chains are undergoing structural shifts globally.

From Capability Validation to Commercial Scale

Entellus plans to deploy the fresh capital towards capital expenditure, expanding into sintered alloys while accelerating the go-to-market of its existing products. The expansion is expected to support a magnet production capacity of approximately 2,000 tonnes per year.

The company had earlier raised $12 million from Silicon Valley–based Social Capital to establish its NdPr metal and bonded powder alloy manufacturing plants in Tamil Nadu. With the latest round, Entellus is positioning itself to broaden its manufacturing portfolio and deepen its role in downstream applications.

“Proving technical capabilities in rare earth metal and alloy manufacturing is non-trivial, and we are the first ones to achieve it verifiably in India. We wish to use this advantage in making India a truly global hub for rare earth magnet manufacturing,” said Simha Kumar, CEO, Entellus.

Why Rare Earth Manufacturing Is Back in Focus

Rare earth metals and magnet materials are increasingly viewed as strategic inputs across industries ranging from electric mobility to industrial automation. Recent supply-chain disruptions and geopolitical realignments have prompted countries to reassess their dependence on concentrated global sources.

Against this backdrop, Entellus’s model, focused on private-sector-led, commercially viable rare earth metal and alloy manufacturing—reflects a shift in how India is approaching critical materials. Instead of limiting efforts to upstream mining or policy support, companies like Entellus are targeting industrial-scale processing and alloy production.

Investment Lens: Backing Deep Manufacturing Bets

ZeroW’s participation underscores growing investor interest in deep-tech manufacturing plays that sit at the intersection of materials science and industrial infrastructure. The involvement of the Mekapati Family Office, through ZeroW, aligns with a broader trend of family offices and long-term capital backing capital-intensive manufacturing ventures.

While rare earth manufacturing remains technically complex and capital-heavy, the investment signals confidence in Entellus’s execution so far and its ability to transition from pilot-scale operations to sustained production.

A Test Case for India’s Strategic Manufacturing Ambitions

Entellus’s expansion comes as national initiatives such as Make in India place renewed emphasis on domestic manufacturing of critical materials. If successful at scale, the company could serve as a reference point for how private manufacturers contribute to India’s ambition of building resilient and globally relevant supply chains in strategic sectors.

For the enterprise ecosystem, the next phase will hinge on execution, bringing products to market, scaling capacity, and integrating into downstream industrial value chains.