Neev II Fund, a climate and sustainability-focused SME fund, on Monday announced an undisclosed amount of investment in Hygenco Green Energies Pvt. Ltd.
Managed by Sbicap Ventures Ltd, Neev II Fund is backed by the United Kingdom government. The announcement was made on UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly’s two-day visit to India.
While the fund kept the amount undisclosed, Hygenco received funding of about £22 million (about Rs 210 crore), as per the British government’s official website.
According to the press statement, the green startup aims to deploy over $300 million (about Rs 2,471 crore) in green hydrogen projects across India in the next three years and looks to deploy Neev Fund’s investment to commercialize its early pipeline.
Founded in 2020 by Amit Bansal, Anshul Gupta and Aashish Gupta, Gurugram-based Hygenco develops and deploys green hydrogen green ammonia-powered production solutions. Its assets serve industries, mobility and transport sector, and power grids. Going forward, Hygenco plans to build-own-operate multiple green hydrogen facilities across the country.
“The UK and India agreed to collaborate on green hydrogen initiatives as part of our Roadmap 2030 agreement. This investment is one of the ways of achieving that,” Alex W Elis, British High Commissioner to India, said.
“The investment into Hygenco is seminal to the philosophy of Neev II of spearheading India’s green transition through alternate energy. Neev Funds are elated to work with the next generation of climate entrepreneurs. We will continue to open the gates of capital to climate focused purpose driven businesses,” said Akshay Panth, the chief investment officer at Neev Fund.
The SME fund also invested an undisclosed sum in bioenergy technology and project integration company GPS Renewables Pvt Ltd, in January.
Neev Fund, in March, raised about Rs 1,500 crore, out of the total Rs 2,000 crore eyed, to invest in climate action, sustainability, and social impact businesses. The final close of the fund is expected later this year and more new investors are likely to come on board.