Helionis Labs raises pre-seed from Transition VC for additive thermal management materials

Helionis Labs, an Indian materials startup founded by materials scientist Tarun Jha, has raised a pre-seed funding round from Transition VC to develop proprietary dielectric materials and additive manufacturing processes for insulated metal substrates. The company targets thermal management in power-dense electronics including LED lighting, EV power electronics, and telecom infrastructure. Helionis plans to use the capital to expand its engineering team, complete certifications and reliability testing, accelerate OEM prototyping programs, and establish a pilot manufacturing line. The startup has already engaged two to three large LED manufacturers in India for pilot projects, with real-world testing expected in commercial applications over the coming months.

This funding sits at the intersection of two underappreciated AM frontiers: functional materials for electronics thermal management and the Indian deep-tech manufacturing ecosystem. Helionis is not building a general-purpose AM platform but rather a process-material pair specifically designed for insulated metal substrates, a component traditionally manufactured via subtractive methods that generate significant material waste and chemical usage. The company claims its additive approach can deliver lower thermal resistance and thinner dielectric layers compared with conventional metal-core PCBs while reducing production steps and equipment costs. This positions Helionis within the broader trend of AM moving beyond prototyping into application-specific production, where the value proposition is not speed or geometric complexity but material performance and process economics. The LED substrate market alone represents roughly ₹4,000 crore in India, giving the startup a defined beachhead before expanding into EV power electronics and telecom infrastructure.

For Helionis, the immediate execution challenge is completing certification and reliability testing - the gate that separates lab-scale demonstrations from OEM qualification. The company has a credible founder with domain experience and a clear market entry point in industrial and automotive lighting. The pre-seed round is appropriately sized for pilot line setup and engineering team expansion. The next milestone to watch is whether the pilot programs with Indian LED manufacturers convert into production contracts, which would validate both the technical performance and the cost competitiveness of the additive approach against established subtractive manufacturing processes.