She Grew Up Without Electricity | Now She's Changing Energy Forever | Shalini Divya
Care Beyond ProfitsShow Notes
“Energy poverty is real. And batteries can change lives.”
From growing up with scheduled power cuts in India to leading a breakthrough battery company in New Zealand, Dr Shalini Divya’s story is one of resilience, scientific rigour, and purpose-led innovation. As CEO and Co-Founder of Tasmanion, Shalini is building next-generation rechargeable aluminium-ion batteries designed to make energy storage safer, more affordable, and scalable for the world.
In this conversation, Shalini shares how her childhood experiences shaped her mission, what it really takes to turn deep tech research into a commercial product, and why validation outside the lab was her turning point. She reflects on learning the investor world from scratch, winning the Entrepreneurship World Cup, choosing the right first market for a new battery chemistry, and why people leadership and clear communication matter just as much as the science. Throughout it all, she comes back to the values she refuses to compromise on: integrity, honesty, and patience.
About Dr Shalini Divya Dr Shalini Divya is a chemist turned cleantech founder and the CEO and Co-Founder of Tasmanion, a company developing next-generation rechargeable aluminium-ion batteries to make energy storage safer, more affordable, and scalable worldwide. With a PhD in Chemistry, Shalini is leading Tasmanion from lab breakthrough to commercial reality. The company’s technology uses abundant, commodity materials such as aluminium, combined with a non-flammable electrolyte system, to create a safer alternative to conventional batteries. Its patents are already granted in the US, China, and Japan.
Shalini has driven rapid global recognition for Tasmanion, including winning first place at the Entrepreneurship World Cup in Riyadh, backed by Microsoft, the Global Entrepreneurship Network, and the Saudi Government. In 2025, she was named to the “40 Under 40 Asian-Kiwi Business Leaders” list, recognising both her innovation and impact.
In this episode Shalini shares: Her "eureka" moment with Fraunhofer in Germany Why aluminium-ion batteries could change energy access What she learned fundraising from scratch Leading technical teams without losing trust The 3 values she refuses to compromise on Her personal stories & her journey to being a CEO Timestamps: (0:00) Growing up with scheduled power cuts (1:48) From chemistry to a New Zealand PhD (4:20) Discovering energy poverty through battery research (6:11) The reality of building a battery company (8:12) Learning fundraising and finding her love for pitching (12:45) The Fraunhofer validation turning point (15:20) Pre-seed, proof of concept, and de-risking the science (16:37) Why stationary storage is the first target market (20:28) Winning the Entrepreneurship World Cup and global visibility (23:47) CEO journey, timelines, and lessons managing people (30:03) Communication as the CEO’s real job (35:20) Values: integrity, honesty, and patience (44:03) Final wish: a calmer world and pragmatic peace
Learn more about Shalini and her work
• Tasmanion: https://tasmanion.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shalini-divya/
Learn more about Azoora and her work • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azooraali/
• Website: https://www.accountingandtax.co.nz/
Listen to Care Beyond Profits on Spotify and YouTube.
❤️ If Shalini’s story resonated with you… Please like, share, and subscribe for more conversations with founders and leaders who prove that care and profits can grow together.
#EnergyStorage #Batteries #DeepTech #Founders #ClimateTech #PurposeDriven #CareBeyondProfits
More from Care Beyond Profits
Lani Evans, founder of Fundsorter and former CEO of Thank You Payroll, shares how AI is transforming grant writing and charity funding for New Zealand's not-for-profits, plus the story of a social enterprise she helped gift to a charity.
Diana arrived with years of leadership behind her. Her first job in New Zealand was vacuuming a casino floor.
Mike Casey, cherry orchardist and CEO of Rewiring Aotearoa, shares how electrification, solar and climate action turned his New Zealand business profitable.
"My daughter was young when I had one of my cancer diagnoses… her little life literally fell apart."
Paul Button, CEO of Rotorua Canopy Tours, shares conservation tourism, regenerative business, and purpose-driven leadership in this Care Beyond Profits podcast on sustainability and ecotourism."Humans...All we crave for is just connection."From a whitewater kayaker chasing rivers across North Canterbury, Canada and Central America, to running one of New Zealand's most awarded ecotourism businesses, Paul Button's story is one of adventure, environmental conviction, and people-first leadership.As CEO of the Rotorua Canopy Tours Group, Paul leads a zipline and treetop experience set inside an 11,000-year-old native forest, alongside the Canopy Conservation Trust that funds its restoration work.In this conversation, Paul shares how a tourism business became a conservation engine: 12 years of native forest restoration, 700 self-resetting predator traps, a B Corp certification (the first in Rotorua), and a soil-carbon breakthrough that suggests a predator-free New Zealand could one day be carbon neutral. Throughout the episode, Paul returns to a simple idea, that the staff are the stars of the show, and that connection, not infrastructure, is what people truly remember.About Paul ButtonPaul Button is the Chief Executive Officer of Rotorua Canopy Tours Group, leading Rotorua Canopy Tours, widely regarded as one of New Zealand’s premier nature-based tourism experiences.His career began as a young kayaker on wild rivers, sparking a lifelong connection to adventure and the natural world. From guiding on the Kaituna River to leading teams internationally, Paul has built his career around creating meaningful, high-quality experiences that connect people to place.Since returning to Aotearoa in 2017, Paul has focused on innovation and regenerative tourism, restoring native forests, inspiring visitors, and demonstrating that business can be a force for good. He also oversees supporting businesses in Queenstown, including Million Dollar Cruise and Canyon Explorers.Outside of work, Paul is a hands-on dad who stays active through CrossFit, mountain biking, and endurance runningIn This Episode / Chapters00:00 New Zealand's carbon-neutral hypothesis00:07 Introducing Paul Button & Canopy Tours01:07 The importance of consistency in leadership13:29 Why people are the real product in tourism17:59 Partnership with the Department of Conservation (DOC)20:20 The Canopy Conservation Trust funding model24:22 Why conservation budgets should never be cut25:18 B Corp certification and holistic business32:38 Setting ethical boundaries with clients40:13 The 40% carbon ground composition discovery41:16 Predator-free forests as a carbon solution41:53 International research partnership & future scalingLearn more about Paul and Rotorua Canopy Tours Rotorua Canopy Tours: https://www.canopytours.co.nz/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-button-93241b187/