Early-stage investor Merak Ventures and accelerator Huddle have launched a climatetech-focused program, ClimAct, which will invest $200,000 upfront in pre-seed rounds of select startups. These startups will have a potential follow-on investment option of up to $1.5 million.
The accelerator program aims to fund climatetech startups in India working in areas like agriculture wastage, supply chain efficiency, mobility and transport, climate finance, carbon accounting and sequestration.
The program will commence on 8 November and the first cohort will begin in February 2023, followed by its culmination in June 2023. The selected companies will gain access to the follow-on investment, if at all, post this 4-month program.
ClimAct’s counts Aavishkar Capital, Accel, Lok Capital, Matrix Partners, Nexus Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital and Stellaris Venture Partners as its partners.
It will support the early build and validation phase of shortlisted companies with curated access to industry veterans, an extended network for pilot opportunities and customized credits of up to $500,000 across technology and business functions to ensure that the focus on sustained decarbonization of the economy gains momentum.
“The climate ecosystem requires intervention and there’s no better time to invest in emerging technologies that will drive the change. At Huddle, our focus is on accelerating and investing in game-changing ventures that address pain points around India’s vulnerability to climate change. Through ClimAct, we look forward to helping India decarbonize and achieve its net zero carbon emissions target by 2070,” said Ishaan Khosla, founding partner, Huddle.
The companies said India has a little over $1 billion invested in climatetech from 2016 to 2021, forming a discrepancy compared to $40 billion across over 600 companies globally. With India's target of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2070, a push for investing in climatetech is critical.
Sheetal Bahl, partner, Merak Ventures said, “In 2021, climatetech funding was 5.5% of total venture funding globally, and in India, the number was even lower at 1.5%. At Merak, we are intent on bridging this gap by investing in innovative tech companies that are solving real-world problems. With ClimAct, we will serve as the conduit for early-stage startups to get pre-seed funds, amass value from our partner network and ease of access to climate focussed venture capital.”
In September, Merak Ventures appointed Soumitra Mishra as a venture partner for investments in climatetech.