2021 round-up: VC Investment in Indian climate Startups
2021 saw significant investor interest in Indian climate startups, with total funding of around $600 million, and a number of international VC funds such as Amazon climate pledge fund & BP ventures made their first investments in India.
While the investments were driven by the theme of electric mobility, many startups that are addressing other large problems such as water scarcity, air pollution also attracted capital. Most deals were seed stage, but there were a few growth stage investments in companies such as Ola Electric, Fourth Partner Energy, Lohum Cleantech, Atomberg Technologies, SEA 6 Energy, and Chakr Innovation.
Highlights
- Electric mobility accounted for 70% share of total funding at $ 400 mn. Within electric mobility, most funding went to electric vehicle manufacturers (Ola Electric, Hero Electric), followed by charging infrastructure providers.
- Solar rooftop was second, driven by $ 125 mn fund raise of Fourth Partner Energy.
- Energy efficiency was a distant third, driven by the $ 20 mn fund raise of Atomberg technologies, a manufacturer of energy efficient fans.
- Regenerative agriculture stood fourth, with a funding of $9 mn for SEA 6 energy, an ocean farming start up.
- Green fuels were the fifth largest, with an investment of over $ 4 mn, steered by Green Jules, a manufacturer of biofuels from agri waste. Further, two interesting startups (Aerostrovilos energy and Blare motors) that are building technologies to make vehicles compatible with hybrid fuels also raised capital.
- Other sectors that caught investors’ attention were air pollution control and water. In Air pollution space, three startups; Devik earth, Clairco and Praan raised capital, whereas in water sector, two startups, Swajal and Uravu labs got funded.
- The investor pool expanded, with many mainstream investors investing in Electric mobility startups. Broadly, the investors could be divided into following categories.
You can download the list of VC investments in FY 21 in the Indian climate sector here.
