MUMBAI: Leading climate-focused venture capital firm Avaana Capital has announced the final close of its climate and sustainability fund with a total fund size of $135 million, which is much above the target corpus.
Avaana, which claims to run the largest domestic institutional climate focused venture capital fund, will pump the money into early-stage companies that leverage technology to create scalable solutions for climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience accelerating the nation’s journey to net zero, the company said in a statement Wednesday.
The fund focuses on three core sectors that account for 90 per cent of carbon emissions: energy and resource management, mobility and supply chains, and sustainable agriculture and food systems.
The fund has attracted support from institutional investors, including the world’s largest climate fund, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) making its first direct investment in the country.
Other key participants include the US International Development Finance Corporation, British government through UK-India Development Cooperation Fund, Self Reliant India Fund and Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi), the Azim Premji Trust and several large corporations, the statement said without disclosing how much each of these investors have parked in the fund.
Various estimates suggest that the country, which is among the most vulnerable nations when it comes to climate change risks, will need investments in excess of $10 trillion by 2070 to meet its net-zero goals to address the growing risks of climate change, Anjali Bansal, a partner with Avaana, said.
Kavita Sinha, director, private sector facility at Green Climate Fund, said, they are proud to make its first investment in a climate venture fund in India through Avaana climate fund. This investment aligns with our vision of catalyzing meaningful climate solutions as this partnership will accelerate country’s net-zero journey and create scalable models for other emerging markets facing similar challenges.
Since its inception in 2018, Avaana has backed over 20 startups.