In the sprawling landscape of India’s renewable energy sector, where opportunity meets chaos, Kishan Karunakaran faced a problem that would become his calling. Years ago, while setting up a jatropha-based biodiesel plant, he discovered something unexpected: production wasn’t the real challenge; it was the fragmented, opaque market that made biofuel trade nearly impossible.
“The biofuel market lacks transparency,” explains Kishan, CEO & Founder of Buyofuel. “Suppliers struggle to sell their products, buyers can’t access reliable sustainable raw materials, and massive volumes of high-value waste are being improperly disposed of, causing environmental harm.”
This firsthand frustration sparked an idea that would revolutionize India’s biofuel ecosystem.
Building Trust in an Industry That Needed It Most
In the early 2020s, Kishan joined forces with Sumanth Kumar Selvarasu (Co-founder & CMO) and Venkat Selvan (Co-founder & CTO), bringing together their complementary expertise in technology and marketing. Together, they launched Buyofuel from AIC RAISE in Coimbatore with a mission: create a trusted tech platform bridging waste generators, biofuel suppliers, and buyers.
Today, Buyofuel stands as India’s largest curated marketplace for biofuels and waste-to-energy raw materials, connecting over 3,000 sellers with 500+ buyers. But the journey to this scale wasn’t without its challenges.
“Our biggest hurdle was convincing suppliers to adapt to a tech-based platform,” recalls Kishan. “Most were accustomed to conventional, offline ways of doing business. On the client side, we had to build confidence to position Buyofuel as a reliable sourcing partner in a highly competitive market.”
The solution? Boots on the ground. The operations team worked directly with suppliers, demonstrating the app’s simplicity and benefits; transparency, traceability, and ease of use. Simultaneously, they ensured timely deliveries for clients, executing every purchase order with the precision expected by large organizations.
The approach worked. Their first customer came through Kishan’s strong industry connections, and by solving pain points like payment delays and transparency gaps, Buyofuel quickly earned trust that rippled across the sector.
The Power of Digital Transparency
What sets Buyofuel apart in a market dominated by fragmented offline brokers? Their app-based platform offers something the industry desperately needed: complete visibility.
“Our platform provides real-time data, notifications, and updates for every purchase order and dispatch,” explains Kishan. “Unlike traditional processes that lack clarity, we ensure all stakeholders have accurate, accessible information at their fingertips. This builds trust and accountability across the supply chain.”
The numbers tell the story of rapid adoption: 20,000 website visitors, over 10,000 registered users, and a current monthly recurring revenue of ₹10 crores. Major corporates including Saint-Gobain, ITC, Thermax, Reliance, and Nayara have signed on as clients.
One success story stands out: a leading glass manufacturer struggling with irregular biomass supply secured reliable vendors within weeks through Buyofuel, saving costs while gaining access to a wide array of biofuels and improving plant efficiency.
Beyond Marketplace: Building an Ecosystem
Buyofuel’s 30+ member team operates like a well-oiled machine, with specialized departments handling everything from operations across North and South India to supply chain management, digital marketing, and platform innovation. The operations team alone brings over 20 years of collective expertise in waste management supply networks and customer demand.
“We envision our team evolving into future leaders who drive innovation and growth,” says Kishan. “As we scale, operations will become more data-driven and tech-enabled, while the technical team will spearhead AI integration and automation.”
But Buyofuel’s ambitions extend beyond being a marketplace. They’re building something bigger.
“The marketplace is just the foundation,” Kishan reveals. “We’re building SaaS, financing, and ESG solutions on top to power the industry’s long-term growth. Our goal is to be the default platform for clean energy trading in India and beyond.”
This vision has attracted backing from marquee investors including Inflection Point Ventures, Gruhas, and LetsVenture. Beyond capital, these investors have opened networks, brought policy insights, and helped sharpen governance and growth strategy.
The Market Insight That Changes Everything
What gives Buyofuel an edge over competitors? According to Kishan, it’s the network-driven intelligence they’ve built.
“We have access to a robust base of buyers, manufacturers, and suppliers, giving us clear understanding of both demand and supply trends,” he explains. “This allows us to anticipate market needs, optimize sourcing, and create better matches between stakeholders. We don’t just connect parties; we provide actionable insights.”
The startup’s pricing model reflects this value proposition: a premium, transaction-based markup that keeps the platform affordable while ensuring sustainability of services like verification, transparency, and financing support.
The pivot from an open marketplace to a curated one came from listening to the market. As organizational demands grew for more reliability and quality assurance, Buyofuel strategically shifted to onboarding only verified suppliers and buyers; a move that strengthened trust and positioned them for scale.
Learning Through Experience
While failures taught the team how the biofuel sector functions, Kishan emphasizes that key experiences shaped their approach more profoundly.
“Building a strong network with suppliers and clients has been crucial for creating trust and long-term partnerships,” he reflects. “Staying constantly updated on feedstock dynamics; pricing fluctuations, availability, demand patterns; helps us anticipate challenges and make informed decisions.”
Perhaps most importantly, Buyofuel has aligned its solutions with evolving compliance pressures on organizations to reduce emissions. As regulatory shifts and sustainability goals become more stringent, the platform has positioned itself not just as a marketplace, but as a trusted partner enabling the clean energy transition.
Looking Ahead: Six Months of Scale
For the next six months, Buyofuel’s roadmap is ambitious: scale platform adoption across existing geographies, expand financing offerings, deepen adoption among top corporates, and bring more waste generators into the fold.
“We initially assumed digitization alone would solve inefficiencies,” admits Kishan. “In reality, trust and financing mattered just as much. That insight shaped features like transparent tracking and trade-partner financing.”
Advice for the Next Generation
For aspiring entrepreneurs, Kishan’s advice is grounded in experience: “Deeply understand the market you are entering and the audience you are serving. Experience plays a crucial role in shaping solutions that are not just innovative but also practical and impactful.”
He emphasizes studying challenges, gaps, and opportunities rather than chasing trends. “Focus on building real value for your customers and stay resilient through setbacks. Clarity of purpose and market insight are the strongest foundations for long-term success.”
As India accelerates its journey toward clean energy, Buyofuel stands at the intersection of technology, sustainability, and market transformation. With waste-to-energy becoming critical to the nation’s environmental goals, the platform Kishan and his co-founders built is proving that transparency, trust, and technology can turn a fragmented industry into an organized ecosystem.
From a single biodiesel plant’s challenge to a ₹10 crore MRR marketplace serving India’s largest corporates, Buyofuel’s story is a testament to the power of solving real problems with persistence, insight, and innovation.
The green revolution isn’t just coming; it’s being fueled, one verified transaction at a time.
To learn more about Buyofuel’s biofuel marketplace and waste-to-energy solutions, visit their platform or explore opportunities in biomass briquettes, biomass pellets, bioethanol, and bio-CBG sourcing.
