Q2-22 round-up: VC Investment in Indian climate Startups
Typically, electric mobility startups dominate funding updates for climate tech sector. However, in Q2 22, some relatively older cleantech companies (Ecozen, Tessol, Ecolibrium energy, and Deluxe recycling) from diverse sectors such as energy efficiency/cold storage/waste management sectors announced funding.
Electric mobility continued to perform well, accounting for of 60% in the funding, followed by sustainable agriculture and energy-efficient cooling.
As such overall funding for climate tech startups in H1 2022 was around $800 mn compared to total funding of around $600 mn for the whole of CY 21. There were 36 transactions, of which 16 were worth more than 5 mn USD.
In Q2 2022, three new funds to invest in climate/deeptech startups were announced; these include Omnivore’s 130 mn USD climate agri fund, Speciale invests’ $ 40 mn fund for deep tech startups, and Aavishkaar’s $ 200 mn impact fund.
Highlights
- Electric mobility accounted for 60% share of total funding at $ 258 mn. Within electric mobility, most funding went to electric scooter manufacturers followed by charging infrastructure providers and last-mile mobility services providers. Additionally, a few interesting startups such as electric auto financing start-up Three Wheels United, and electric commercial vehicle sale /finance platform Turno raised capital.
- Sustainable agriculture came in second, driven by a $ 100 mn funding of Absolute foods, a precision agriculture startup.
- Energy-efficient cooling was third, with a number of companies such as Ecozen, Tan 90, and Tessol raising capital.
- Additionally, there were a few interesting start-ups across different sectors that caught investors’ attention. These included Phool (flower waste recycling), Ecolobirium (IoT for smart manufacturing), Solar square (solar rooftop), Deluxe recycling (Tetra pack/plastic recycling), and Terra.do (climate education).
- The investor pool has grown, with many mainstream venture funds such as Stellaris and Sequoia investing in climate tech companies, as well as corporate VC funds such as Dare Ventures. The following is a list of investors who participated in the funding.
You can download the list of VC investments in Q2 22 in Indian climate startups here.
