Chennai-based design and engineering firm raises ₹17 crore in funding

Chennai-based sustainable design firm Illumine-i raises ₹17 crore in Series A funding from Anicut Capital to expand operations and improve asset quality.

Chennai-headquartered Illumine Industries Private Limited (Illumine-i), a sustainable design and engineering firm, has raised ₹17 crore in its Series A round from Anicut Capital. Anicut Capital is an asset management company managing multiple AIFs across both debt and equity strategies.

Illumine-i will utilise the funds to scale up its operations. With this fund raise, Illumine-i is poised to double down on its vision of “developing assets for communities by empowering builders’ by focusing on automation, digitisation and improving asset caliber.” The investment would also help in Illumine-i’s expansion into new markets.

Founded in 2015 by former SolarCity and Sunrun employees Nithish Sairam and Sudarsan Krishnan, Illumine-i started with a small team of five with a focus on designing low voltage power plants. Over the years, the company has become the leading player in its category, offering structural and electrical engineering expertise for power plants, energy storage systems, and distribution components. Beyond the power sector, Illumine-i extends digital modeling, MEP engineering & project management expertise to the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector.

Nithish Sairam, founder and CEO of Illumine Industries Private Limited, said: “In the next 12 months, our goal is to introduce tech-based solutions, which would directly translate into reduced risk, reduced cost and improved quality of assets for our customers.”

“Illumine-i is at the intersection of a fast-growing global market and India’s talent pool to deliver for such a market. Nithish and Sudarsan have built a very strong and scalable business in the renewable energy market,“ said Adithya Bharadwaj, vice president at Anicut Capital. “We look forward to supporting them as they expand into newer geographies, new products and continue improving the end-to-end journey for customers.”