Akshay Singhal

CEO of Log 9 Materials

(Forbes 30 Under 30)

25 December 2019 6 Min Read

Akshay Singhal: Pioneering Clean Energy Solutions for Tomorrow

Akshay Singhal is an environment-conscious entrepreneur and the CEO and co-founder of Log 9 Materials, a nanotechnology product development company focusing on graphene as a material to set the base for a sustainable future.

He marked his beginning as a Research Intern at the University of Alberta and later joined the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee. Not long after, Singhal and his co-founder Kartik Hajela were featured on Forbes’s “30 Under 30 Asia 2019” list in the Industry, Manufacturing & Energy achievements category for their innovation. They also won the Most Innovative Technology Company of 2018 award from the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India.

I loved hearing his story and what led him to take this path. Is entrepreneurship and staying motivated challenging, and how far can passion take you? Let’s see what this young and highly inspiring individual has to share from his experience, the good and evil, and the lessons he learned through experience.

The Logician

Hi Akshay, and welcome to this interview! First off, I would like to thank you for taking the time to join me in this mission of mine! Do you mind introducing yourself? Who is Akshay Singhal? How did you choose the career you have today?

Akshay Singhal

Thank you. I, Akshay V. Singhal, am the CEO and Founder of Log 9 Materials. I am an alumnus of IIT Roorkee, having studied bachelors in materials engineering.

I was fascinated by graphene and its untapped potential, which motivated me to try things on my own and tread the entrepreneurial path.

The Logician

Additionally, I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate you and your business partner Kartik Hajela on being among Forbes 30 under 30! How was this experience for you? What do you believe most contributed to such a success?

Akshay Singhal

Thank you. It was a humbling experience to be recognized for our efforts, especially at such a young age.

Our success can be attributed to shared values that we have in our team: environmental consciousness, agility, and undying optimism.

The Logician

Can you tell us more about Log 9 Materials Scientific? How did you and the other co-founder come up with the idea? What makes your business different? Why is it important?

Akshay Singhal

Initially bootstrapped and supported by my parents and few batchmates from IIT-Roorkee (my alma mater), Log 9 Materials started as a nanotechnology R&D company in the backyard of my house as a makeshift lab.

A few months later, we managed to secure a seed funding from IIT-Roorkee’s TIDES innovation center.

I met co-founder Mr. Kartik Hajela during my time at IIT-Roorkee. He is a chemical engineer while I am a Materials engineer.

From early on, we started tapping into the vast potential of the wonder material ‘graphene’ and discovered the numerous uses and modifications to create real-life products that could lead to a better and sustainable future for mankind.

After co-founding two biotech and nanotech ventures himself, Pankaj got fascinated by the potential of Log9 and now serves as a co-founding advisor.

Log 9 Materials was born out of our know-how and strong belief system that graphene as a nanomaterial could potentially transform the future.

Ever since our inception, our mission has been to accelerate the commercialization of graphene nanotechnology.

Over time, Log 9 has come a long way in it its vision to invent breakthrough technologies and products in this domain that shall definitely act as a boon for a sustainable future of mankind.

Our vision is to make 100% clean and circular energy economy feasible through aluminum resulting in zero emissions; zero waste generation and non-dependence on rare minerals.

In the long term, we are poised to make aluminum-based energy constitutionally a technology of national importance, making India a net energy exporter.

The Logician

For all those who still struggle to find their career path, can you tell us how did you find yours? When did you figure out this is what you are ‘supposed’ to do in life?

Akshay Singhal

Nanotechnology was introduced to me by my grandfather Mr. Vipin Kumar who was a scientist at NPL New Delhi.

He had worked in the field for more than 35 years. In my Sophomore year at IIT Roorkee, he used to come to Roorkee every weekend and advise me with nanotech experiments in a lab we set up in the Center of Nanotechnology at IIT Roorkee. This is where my Nanotech journey started.

Soon after Graphene caught my eye as the next big thing, coincidentally there was a new professor in my parent department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Dr. Indranil Lahiri who had done his Ph.D. in Graphene from the U.S.

After, working with them for a year on Graphene and after my internship at University of Alberta, Canada it was clear that a Graphene venture is the thing to do.

Probably, it was driven by my desire to do applied research with tangible societal impact. And also, to establish the belief that innovative technologies can be developed in India as well.

The Logician

According to you, what is more important — smart or hard work? Education or experience?

Akshay Singhal

Smart work coupled with the experience of hard work.

However, being in the right place at the right time makes a lot of difference, where education and its network thereof can get you to places which otherwise would be difficult.

The Logician

How hard can you keep yourself motivated and interested in your work? Has your personal life influenced your career in general?

Akshay Singhal

We are only getting started now.

Since Log9 is on a mission to create the aluminum economy from scratch which does not exist as of now — the work itself is our reward and intrinsic motivation.

My personal value system of resilience, agility, and focus on sustainable environmental impact has led my career goals.

The Logician

What are your ‘’5 Life Lessons I Learned From My Experience’’? Please explain.

Akshay Singhal

Respecting individualism. Every person is unique, driven by their experiences and preferences, this helps keep frustration low when managing expectations.
Empathy, people behave in a particular way due to circumstances we are either unaware of or we don’t want to appreciate. Understanding their circumstances and then acting from their position goes a long way.
People you aspire to work with, you want them to invest in you or extremely successful or renowned people are also humans. They don’t have horns on their foreheads.
When you want to achieve something, dream about it, believe it, imagine you already have it, and if you are passionate enough serendipity will give it to you in no time.
What we do in life is always a mix of what we like to do and what we have to do, so that we can do what we like. If the proportion of time spent on what you like is more than 10% that’s phenomenal.

The Logician

What hard thing are you not doing enough? What easy thing are you doing too much?

Akshay Singhal

Being an R&D focused company, we are probably not getting to know our users fast enough and hence not measuring enough, yet.

On the contrary, the deeptech focus has led us to churn out 3 industry-ready products quite fast, with the 4th one in the pipeline.

The Logician

Do you have any plans for the future? Where do you see yourself and Log 9 Materials Scientific ten years from now?

Akshay Singhal

Ten years from now, Log9 would have significantly contributed to pioneering the aluminum economy and become one of the prominent global businesses in aluminum fuel cells.

The Logician

Finally, what is the best advice you can give to everyone who fears they will not be successful?

Akshay Singhal

If you really want to do something, do it today rather than tomorrow.

Also, hold your ground. Don’t buy into or accept whatever is offered, but hold your ground and things will fall into place.

The Logician

Thank you, Akshay, for giving the readers and me a fresh outlook on technology and sustainability. You have a unique business model that many can learn from and try to implement. At the same time, your story genuinely encourages anyone with a fantastic idea who is afraid to set foot in the entrepreneurship world. I wish you the best of luck in anything you set your mind to; I know you will make it.

The Logician

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