# Sandeep Nijhawan

> Sandeep Nijhawan is the Boulder-based co-founder and CEO of Electra, where he is applying a career spanning semiconductors, advanced materials, electrochemistry, startups, and venture investing to a stubborn industrial problem: making iron without the coal-fired heat of a blast furnace. Electra's hydrometallurgical and electrowinning process runs at about 60°C, can follow intermittent renewable power, and is designed to turn lower-grade ores into high-purity iron and mineral co-products. Since starting in a garage in 2020, the company has moved through pilot production, a $186 million Series B, strategic purchase agreements, a Colorado demonstration facility, and a $30 million J.P. Morgan venture-debt facility, while Nijhawan has argued that clean industrial materials must reach cost parity and that a global carbon price would accelerate adoption.

- **Role:** Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Electra
- **Organizations:** Electra, ESS Tech, True North Venture Partners, AquaHydrex, Staq Energy, Intermolecular, Siorah Incorporated, Applied Materials
- **Education:** Bachelor of Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering and PhD in Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, MBA, International Institute for Management Development (IMD)
- **Known for:** Co-founded Electra and led its progression from a 2020 garage startup to pilot operations and a demonstration facility., Named to the 2024 TIME100 Climate list., Led Electra through a $186 million Series B financing in 2025 and a $30 million J.P. Morgan venture-debt facility in 2026.

## Career timeline

- **Earlier career** — Held progressively senior roles at Applied Materials, including incubating its LED business from concept through commercialization; later founded and led LED startup Siorah Incorporated.
- **Before 2016** — Served as a senior vice president at Intermolecular, working on accelerated R&D for semiconductor, photovoltaic, battery, and energy-efficient-glass materials.
- **2016-2019** — Served as president of Staq Energy, a distributed energy-storage company.
- **2018-2019** — Worked as an operating partner at True North Venture Partners and as president of hydrogen-electrolyzer developer AquaHydrex.
- **2020** — Co-founded Electra with Quoc Pham and began developing low-temperature electrochemical iron refining from a garage during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- **2023** — Joined the board of ESS Tech as an independent director.
- **2024** — Electra launched a Boulder pilot plant; Nijhawan was named to the TIME100 Climate list.
- **2025** — Electra raised a $186 million Series B, unveiled a Colorado demonstration facility, and announced purchase and environmental-attribute agreements with industrial partners.
- **2026** — Electra secured a $30 million venture-debt facility from J.P. Morgan to support its path toward commercial production.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Electra and led its progression from a 2020 garage startup to pilot operations and a demonstration facility.
- Named to the 2024 TIME100 Climate list.
- Led Electra through a $186 million Series B financing in 2025 and a $30 million J.P. Morgan venture-debt facility in 2026.
- Helped build strategic relationships across mining, steel, automotive trading, technology, and finance, including BHP, Rio Tinto, Nucor, Toyota Tsusho, Meta, and J.P. Morgan.
- Incubated Applied Materials' LED business from concept to commercialization.
- Serves as an independent director of ESS Tech.
- Named a 2025 Most Admired CEO by the Denver Business Journal.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Electra announced a $30 million venture-debt facility from J.P. Morgan to accelerate commercial production.
- **2025-11** — The Denver Business Journal recognized Nijhawan as a 2025 Most Admired CEO.
- **2025-10** — Electra unveiled its Colorado demonstration facility and announced advanced purchase orders with Nucor, Toyota Tsusho, and Interfer, plus an environmental-attribute credit agreement with Meta.
- **2025-07** — Nijhawan discussed Electra's low-temperature process and commercialization path on Hardware to Save a Planet.
- **2025-04** — Electra announced a $186 million Series B led by Capricorn Investment Group and Temasek, with investors spanning mining, steel, climate finance, and strategic industry partners.
- **2024-11** — TIME named Nijhawan to its 2024 TIME100 Climate list.

## Links

- Website: https://www.electra.earth/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nijhawan

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/sandeep-nijhawan
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-25