World Bank arm IFC is looking to invest in Ecolibrium Energy Pvt Ltd, an early-stage firm specialising in the area of energy efficiency. The Ahmedabad-based company is currently looking to raise $1.5 million, a large chunk of which is expected to come from IFC.
Ecolibrium provides a technology platform to monitor and control electricity usage for commercial and industrial customers. The company also has plans to expand to power grid infrastructure management and renewable energy monitoring. The funds will be used to strengthen Ecolibrium’s product capabilities and also for reaching out to a larger customer base.
The company was incubated at IIM-Ahmedabad’s business incubator, Center for Innovation, Incubation & Entrepreneurship (CIIE) under Renewable Energy Research, an initiative by CIIE and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India (MNRE).
Ecolibrium is promoted by Chintan Soni (who had earlier worked at Schlumberger and Gujarat Venture Capital) and Harit Soni (who had worked with KPMG and Infosys). The two hold a majority stake while CIIE is also a stake-holder in the firm. Ecolibrium began operations in August 2010 and currently employs 15 people.
According to the company website, at the transmission and distribution level, there is a loss of 26 per cent of electricity and in some of the states, it is as high as 60 per cent. The financial losses are estimated up to 1.5 per cent of the national GDP.
Earlier this year, IFC, along with Global Environment Fund (GEF), invested $4.5 million in the energy efficiency firm Kalki Communication Technologies Pvt Ltd.
IFC has also backed two India-focused funds in this space – Infuse Capital, a $25 million early-stage fund focused on cleantech and sustainable energy enterprises, and Nereus India Alternative Energy Fund LLC, a $250 million fund focused on clean energy developers.
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(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)