56 Cleantech Startups Working Towards Making India Greener

SUMMARY

Inc42 has compiled a list of 56 cleantech startups, which have come up with out-of-the-box solutions to contribute to India’s clean energy goals

The Indian cleantech startups have come up with new ideas to power existing clean energy technology and are doing their bit to save the environment in their own ways

From startups dealing with rooftop solar energy or those focussing on biomethanation technology to solve organic waste management to those providing solutions to clean and purify air and water, the list has it all

In light of World Environment Day, it is worth noting the increasing number of cleantech startups in India working to address the country and the world’s environmental challenges. These startups are developing innovative solutions that aim to balance the need for economic growth and development with sustainability.

Inc42 has identified 56 such startups making strides in the cleantech sector. Their approaches vary widely, from harnessing solar energy on rooftops to implementing biomethanation technology for organic waste management, and even purifying air and water. These cleantech startups represent a growing trend in India towards embracing clean technology to mitigate the environmental impact of industrialisation and urbanisation.

While the long-term impact of these startups remains to be seen, their emergence signifies a promising shift in the Indian business landscape towards greater environmental consciousness. It also highlights the potential for technological innovation to play a significant role in achieving India’s clean energy goals and contributing to a more sustainable future. As we celebrate World Environment Day, these startups are a reminder that the transition to a greener economy is necessary and increasingly feasible.

The list below is not meant to be a ranking of any kind. The startups have been listed in alphabetical order.

List Of Cleantech Startups In India

75F

Founded In: 2012
Founders: Deepinder Singh, Pankaj Chawla
Funding Raised To Date: $25 Mn
Investors: Siemens AG, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Climate Initiative, Building Ventures, Revolution, Clean Energy Trust, WIND Ventures
Headquarters: Bengaluru

75F offers smart building solutions such as wireless sensors, equipment controllers and cloud-based software, delivering predictive, and proactive building automation to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

75F’s products mainly predict, monitor and control hot and cold spots of a building and thus, avert damages to the edifice. In the beginning, the startup focused on the commercial real estate market but in 2015, it also started providing HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) solutions.

It works along with facility management companies, systems integrators and energy service companies to add more properties within its umbrella. Besides, it also outsources manufacturing units in the US, India and China.

In July 2021, it reportedly secured $5 Mn in a Series A funding round from Siemens AG. With this, the startup raised a total of $28 Mn in the Series A financing round.

Its cap table includes Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Climate Initiative, Clean Energy Trust and WIND Ventures, among others.

Ace Green Recycling

Founded In: 2019
Founders: Nishchay Chadha, Vipin Tyagi
Funding Raised To Date: $10 Mn
Investors: Circulate Capital, Climate Angels, Newchip
Headquarters: Singapore

Ace Green Recycling is a battery recycling startup, which claims to have developed clean and efficient lead-acid battery recycling technology.

Its battery operates at room temperature, contains zero air emissions, and wastes and reduces heavy metal emissions, resulting in significantly lower environmental damage, the startup said.

Further, the cleantech startup has said it is working on the commercialisation of lithium-ion battery recycling in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Battery recycling technology startup secured more than $7 Mn in a funding round led by Circulate Capital and Climate Angels in February 2022.

Adding this round, the startup’s total fund raised stands at $10 Mn so far, according to the startup.

The startup is planning to develop its lithium reusable technology and expand the 30-member team to 50 in the coming months. The startup is also focusing on developing fossil fuel-free lithium battery recycling technology.

AirOk

Founded In: 2015
Founders: Deekshith Vara Prasad, Pavan Reddy Yasa, Vanam Sravan Krishna
Funding Raised To Date: Undisclosed
Investors: Ncubate Capital Partners
Headquarters: New Delhi

AirOk has developed a patented air filter called EGAPA that is capable of removing 99.7% of air pollutants from the environment. The filter is designed to target cancer cells and break down air pollutants such as viruses, VOCs, bacteria, and mould, as claimed by the company.

In addition to air filters, AirOk offers a range of products, including air purifiers, air purifier filters, face masks, purifying bags, data centre solutions, and pollution seizure solutions.

According to its financial report for FY21, the company generated operating revenue of INR 1.94 Lakh but also reported a loss of INR 2.25 Lakh.

AirOk has secured investment from Ncubate Capital Partners, a VC fund based in Gurugram.

altM

Founded In: 2022
Founders: Apoorv Garg, Yugal Raj Jain
Funding Raised Till Date: $3.5 Mn
Investors: Omnivore, Theia Ventures, Thai Wah Ventures, Sanjiv Rangrass, Neha Mudaliar, Maninder Gulati (OYO), Mirik Gogri (Spectrum Impact), Paula Mariwala (Aureolis Ventures)
Headquarters: Bengaluru

Founded in 2022 by ex-Tesla employees Apoorv Garg and Yugal Raj Jain, altM is on a mission to develop sustainable materials from agricultural residue and help companies reduce their carbon footprints and increase circularity in their supply chains.

altM uses lignocellulosic agricultural residues to produce advanced materials that offer sustainable alternatives to conventional products. Lignocellulosic residue refers to dry plant waste that is left during or after the processing of crops. It includes items such as barley straw, corn stover, sorghum stalks, coconut husks, sugarcane bagasse and banana leaves.

Last month, altM secured $3.5 Mn in a seed funding round led by Omnivore. It was also featured in the 40th edition of Inc42’s ‘30 Startups To Watch’ list.

Bambrew

Founded In: 2018
Founders: Vaibhav Anant
Funding Raised To Date: $2.67 Mn
Investors: Blue Ashva Capital, Supack Industries, Mumbai Angels
Headquarters: Bengaluru

Founded in 2018 by Vaibhav Anant, Bambrew offers sustainable alternatives for food packaging, pouches and foldable cartons, ecommerce mailer bags, and PVC. The startup uses bamboo to make its products and claims that all its products are plastic-free and made in-house.

The Bengaluru-based green packaging startup picked up $2.35 Mn in a Pre-Series A round in January 2022, which was led by Blue Ashva Capital and Supack Industries. The funding round also attracted investments from Mumbai Angels and other angel investors.

Since its funding round, Bambrew has expanded its product range to include offerings such as paper straws, cups and glasses, and wooden spoons and forks.

Bariflo Labs

Founded In: 2018
Founders: Mrityunjay Sahu, Anudhyan Mishra
Funding Raised To Date: +$10.00K
Investors: CSIR, Startup Odisha, JSW, the Telangana AI Mission (T-AIM), and VIT Technology Business Incubator
Headquarters: Bhubaneswar

Founded in 2018 by Mrityunjay Sahu and Anudhyan Mishra, and headquartered in Bhubaneswar, Bariflo Labs is a water body management and aquafarming startup. The startup has developed an Intelligent Aqua Bodies Management system using principles of fluid dynamics and deploying technologies like industrial internet of things (IIoT), AI and robotics.

The Aqua Bodies Management system works using Bariflo Labs’ India-patented sediment aeration device. This device diffuses air at the sediment level in a water body, maintaining dissolved oxygen at the sediment oxygen boundary layer. It reduces energy consumption by up to 75% and capital cost by 20%.

The startup’s AI-based monitoring device can predict water quality parameters such as dissolved oxygen, un-ionised ammonia, phosphate, nitrite, nitrate, sulphide, pH and ORP.

Bariflo Labs’ is backed by CSIR, Startup Odisha, JSW, the Telangana AI Mission (T-AIM), and VIT Technology Business Incubator, among others.

BatX Energies

Founded In: 2020
Founders: Utkarsh Singh, Vikrant Singh
Funding Raised To Date: $1.96 Mn
Investors: LetsVenture, JITO Angel Network, family offices of Mankind Pharma, Excel Industries and BluSmart
Headquarters: Gurugram

Founded in 2020 by Utkarsh Singh and Vikrant Singh, Gurugram-headquartered BatX Energies is a Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery recycling startup. The startup works to provide battery-grade materials by recycling end-of-life batteries.

Using its proprietary process, BatX Energies extracts black mass of less than 1% impurities from used Li-ion cells. This process allows the startup to extract high-quality lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese from black mass. The startup also produces plastics, aluminium, copper and stainless steel from recycled batteries, which it sells to recyclers.

In December 2023, BatX Energies secured $5 Mn in its Pre-Series A funding round from Zephyr Peacock, with participation from LetsVenture and existing investors, including JITO Angel Network, family offices of Mankind Pharma, Excel Industries and BluSmart. The startup plans to deploy the fresh capital to scale up production of its recycled battery-grade lithium, nickel, and cobalt and establish a nationwide reverse logistics network for sourcing.

Buyofuel

Founded In: 2020
Founders: Kishan Karunakaran, Venkateswaran Selvan, Sumnath Kumar, Prasad Nair
Funding Raised To Date: $1.6 Mn
Investors: IPV, VCATS, Gruhas Proptech, LV, Lead Angels Fund
Headquarters: Coimbatore

Coimbatore-based BuyOFuel aggregates, biofuel suppliers, consumers and waste generators (waste biomass is converted to biofuels).

It claims that 90% of its users are active and repeat customers, and the business has clocked a 2x increase in monthly revenue since May 2022. The cleantech platform saw transactions involving 30K million tonnes (MT) of waste and biofuels since May, substituting 10K MT of fossil fuels.

It has raised $1.6 Mn (INR 13.22 Cr) to date, from investors including IPV, VCATS, Gruhas Proptech, LV and Lead Angels Fund.

Chakr Innovation

Founded In: 2016
Founders: Kushagra Srivastava, Arpit Dhupar, Bharti Singhla
Funding Raised To Date: $3.6 Mn
Investors: Neev Fund II, Indian Angel Network, ONGC, Parampara Capital, Globevestor
Headquarters: Delhi NCR

Chakr Innovation offers an emission control device that checks pollution at the source and captures harmful particulate matter emissions.

The cleantech startup claims its products are coupled with exhaust and absorb over 80% of the particulate matter emitted by diesel engines.

Chakr Innovation’s device Chakr Shield claims to collect 90% of particulate matter emissions from the exhaust of diesel generators without causing any adverse impact on the diesel engine. The collected emissions are used to create the ink.

According to the startup, the Chakr Shield can significantly reduce particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions after retrofitting the tailpipe of the DG set.

Last year, Delhi’s upscale mall Select CityWalk installed Chakr Shield to reduce pollution from the DG sets by up to 80%. The shield would help reduce annually an estimated 378 kg of PM or black soot emissions which is equivalent to more than 174 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions or the carbon sequestered by 228 acres of forest in one year alone, said Chakr’s cofounder Bharti Singhla.

Chakr Innovation raised an undisclosed amount in the Series B round from Neev Fund II in November 2021.

The startup has raised multiple rounds of funding, including a Series A round of INR 19 Cr led by IAN Fund and ONGC. It had also raised seed capital from Parampara Capital and Globevestor.

Chakr Innovation will be working on other technology solutions including Metal-Air battery technology. The startup plans to scale its production and expand its operations across more than 12 cities in future.

Clairco

Founded In: 2018
Founders: Aayush Jha
Funding Raised To Date: $572.6K
Investors: AngelList, Max Group, Sanjiv Bajaj, Anicut Angel Fund
Headquarters: Bengaluru

Clairco is an Internet of Things (IoT) startup which enables air quality monitoring and purification. It uses low-drag air filters which can be retrofitted to any type of air conditioning and turn them into air purifiers.

According to Clairco, it has developed this patent-pending air purification system in-house. It analyses air quality data of a particular premise on a real-time basis and installs ultra-low resistance air filters in existing air conditioning units. This is then converted into a smart air purification system.

It helps businesses ensure clean air affordably and measurably by adding air purification to existing AC systems. It offers filter technology for up to MERV-13 filtration with a low-pressure drop, monitors PM2.5, PM10, CO2, VOC, and other air quality parameters, and maintains optimal health of air filters and purifiers in any season.

For its monetisation plan, Clairco charges its customers a monthly subscription fee for businesses of all sizes and scales.

Clairco raised INR 4.2 Cr in angel funding in March last year. The round was led by Sanjiv Bajaj (Bajaj Capital) at Anicut Angel Fund. Investors including Max Group and Angel List also participated in the round.

The cleantech startup is looking to expand its footprint to key cities across the country. It is also looking for product development and growth.

CleanMax Enviro Energy Solutions

Founded In: 2011
Founders: Kuldeep Jain, Sushant Arora
Funding Raised To Date: $188.2 Mn
Investors: IFU, Warburg Pincus, UKCI, International Finance Corporation
Headquarters: Mumbai

Rooftop solar startup CleanMax is a sustainability partner to corporations and develops solar and wind projects under the Build Own Operate model by providing renewable electricity under long-term agreements, creating significant savings for end-users.

The startup currently serves more than 150 customers, including Facebook, Adobe, Cargill Foods, Volvo, Tata Group, Mahindra Group, Grasim, MG Motors and others.

The Danish Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU) invested $34 Mn in the renewable energy startup in December 2021.

The investment in CleanMax is IFU’s second within renewables in India, following the signing of the India-Danish Green Strategic Partnership in 2020 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

CleanMax signed a deal with social media giant Facebook last year to co-run a portfolio of wind and solar projects across India that will supply clean energy to the electrical grid.

In India, the startup has new investments lined up in solar, wind and wind-solar hybrid projects in states, including Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, to serve the needs of corporate customers.

CleanMax is planning to accelerate its growth in the commercial and industrial renewable energy space in India, as well as in the Middle East and South East Asia.

Devic Earth

Founded In: 2018
Founders: Shaguna Sinha, Srikanth Sola, Shivani Sinha Sola
Funding Raised To Date: $1.36 Mn
Investors: Blue Ashva Sampada Fund
Headquarters: Bengaluru

Cleantech startup Devic Earth creates scalable solutions with ‘Pure Skies’, its air pollution control equipment for industries and large areas. Pure Skies improves air quality.

The Pure Skies tech system reduces specific pollutants like particulate matter to less than 10 microns (both PM10 and PM2.5). The air quality index typically improves in heavily polluted areas in less than three months.

Pure Skies comes with an intelligent wifi-based technology to handle airborne gaseous and particle pollutants across industries, homes, and cities. A single push of a button can help remove 40-50% of nano-sized particles at <20µm.

Pure Skies has been installed with companies operating in sectors including steel, cement, hotels, mining, and manufacturing. It claims the product also addresses challenges arising out of polluting events such as crop burning, forest fires, and construction.

The green technology startup raised its first institutional funding of INR 10 Cr last year from the Blue Ashva Sampada Fund.

Devic Earth is planning to expedite more growth and product roadmaps and expand its operational presence in the country and global markets.

DigitalPaani

Founded In: 2020
Founders: Mansi Jain and Rajesh Jain
Funding Raised To Date: $1.2 Mn
Investors: Enzia Ventures, Elemental Excelerator, Bharat Founders Fund, peercheque, Ashish Goel
Headquarters: Gurugram

Founded in 2020 by the father-daughter duo of Rajesh and Mansi Jain, DigitalPaani helps resolve water asset management issues with its IoT-enabled integrated operations platform, driving operational excellence while significantly reducing costs.

Its solution operates in three key steps, beginning with a comprehensive assessment of each water asset’s needs based on its design and current operational status. The platform acts as a manager, automating processes, providing precise dosing recommendations for chemicals, guiding maintenance tasks, and facilitating troubleshooting when issues arise. DigitalPaani also recommends operational and physical improvements to enhance overall performance.

The startup raised $1.2 Mn in December 2023 in a seed round led by Enzia Ventures, and was featured in the 43rd edition of Inc42’s ‘30 Startups To Watch’.

EdgeGrid

Founded In: 2020
Founders: Sunil Talla, Prasad Yerneni, Mushtaq Ahmed, Neeraj Sansanwal, Vamsi TP
Funding Raised To Date: $6 Mn
Investors: Lightrock India, Theia Ventures
Headquarters: Hyderabad

EdgeGrid is a B2B cleantech platform that transits energy to last-mile customers such as households, small businesses, commercial building owners and EV charging stations.

The startup mainly uses the Internet of Things (IoT), AI and industry innovation to resolve energy-related problems in various industries. It claims that it enables customers to consume energy efficiently and also works with energy distribution companies to save costs and expand renewable energy in the ecosystem.

In March 2023, it secured $6 Mn in a fundraising round led by Lightrock India. Theia Ventures and some angel investors also participated in the round. In July last year, it reportedly partnered with Andhra Pradesh Central Power Distribution Co Ltd to help transmission and distribution companies in the state save power purchasing costs.

Electriq

Founded In: 2021
Founder: Anand Thakur
Funding Raised To Date: Undisclosed
Investors: Moto Business Service India
Headquarters: Hyderabad

Founded in 2021 by Anand Thakur, Electriq is an IT, web and app-based platform that tracks electric vehicles and their drivers. Under its B2B vertical, it sells EVs to aggregators such as Zepto and Swiggy and individual customers.

The startup’s vehicles are installed with IoT devices that share the real-time location of vehicles and vehicle drivers. Electriq’s partnership with Vodafone Idea (VI) allows it to offer connectivity electric scooters.

The startup last raised funding in October 2022 when Yamaha Motors’ subsidiary Moto Business Service India (MBSI) infused an undisclosed amount in a corporate round. That was also the first funding round the startup had raised.

Freyr Energy

Founded In: 2014
Founders: Saurabh Marda, Radhika Choudary
Funding Raised To Date: $4.6 Mn
Investors: Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures, Schneider Electric Energy Access Asia, and C4D Partners
Headquarters: Hyderabad

Freyr Energy is a rooftop solar expert for residential and commercial solar solutions. It also caters to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sectors, catering to customers across 22 states in India.

Freyr Energy is working to bring much-needed consolidation in the green energy sector. The cleantech startup has come with its app, SunPro+, through which it has made the process of owning a solar system simple and seamless. The entire process of owning the system including financing, execution, and after-sales service, has become easier with the app.

Freyr Energy raised INR 18 Cr as an equity investment in April 2021 from Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures, Schneider Electric Energy Access Asia, and C4D Partners. The cleantech startup is working towards mass-market adoption of solar energy, and looking to accelerate growth and enhance its customer experience.

Gegadyne Energy

Founded In: 2015
Founders: Jubin Varghese, Ameya Gadiwan
Funding Raised To Date: $5 Mn
Investors: V-Guard, Mumbai Angels
Headquarters: Mumbai

Gegadyne Energy develops eco-friendly alternatives to conventional lithium-ion batteries. Its battery consists of nano-material composites and advanced battery architectures to enable quick charging with high energy density similar to lithium-ion batteries.

Gegadyne’s batteries charge from 0 to 100% in around 15 minutes; unlike lithium-ion batteries that take hours to recharge. The price range of the battery pack will be at par with lithium-ion batteries and will drop further as the economy of scale kicks in, as per the startup.

The batteries are aimed to be a direct replacement for existing use cases and will be available in cylindrical, pouch and prismatic forms, according to the startup.

Electric vehicles are the main focus of the startup. However, these batteries can be used in any other consumer devices, telecom towers, and stationary energy storage systems.

Gegadyne Energy raised $4.5 Mn from V-Guard Industries in a Series A round of investment in January 2021. It plans to build a pilot plant to service its contract with selected OEMs.

GPS Renewables

Founded In: 2012
Founders: Mainak Chakraborty, Sreekrishna Sankar
Funding Raised To Date: $23 Mn
Investors: Neev Fund II, Hivos-Triodos Fund, Caspian
Headquarters: Bengaluru

GPS Renewables focuses on biomethanation technology to solve the organic waste management challenge, accelerate the substitution of fossil fuel with bioenergy and mitigate climate change.

The startup has a captive biogas product called the ‘BioUrja’, and GPS renewables claim to have more than 100 BioUrja installations across South Asia. GPS Renewables commissioned a BioCNG plant based on Source Separated Organics (SSO) in Indore. The plant, which is Asia’s largest in its class, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February 2022 and is set up over 15 acres of land.

The biogas plant is expected to produce 17 tonnes of bio-CNG every day from 550 tonnes of organic household waste. GPS Renewables aims to power 400 city buses in Indore with the BioCNG generated from the plant. The cleantech startup raised $3 Mn in a Series A funding led by Hivos-Triodos Fund and Caspian in 2020. GPS Renewables closed undisclosed funding in a Series B round in March 2022 from Neev Fund II, managed by SBICap Ventures.

The cleantech startup is working to complete the world’s largest BioCNG plant in Hyderabad, in partnership with development partners from Japan. It aims to accelerate the substitution of fossil fuels with bio-energy. The startup aims to expand its research and development centres and support its next phase of growth and expansion.

Greenjoules

Founded In: 2018
Founders: V Radhika, VS Shridhar, S Viraraghavan, R Sethunath
Funding Raised To Date: $4.5 Mn
Investors: Blue Ashva Capital
Headquarters: Pune

Greenjoules specialises in making renewable biofuels, which are curated entirely from agri-residue and renewable waste from agro-processing industries.

The biofuel can be used for industrial applications (to power boilers, and gensets) and commercial applications (diesel vehicles). Greenjoules claims to utilise non-food and non-feed wastes to manufacture biofuels. The manufactured biofuel meets the same IS1460 standards that petroleum and diesel also follow.

According to Greenjoules, its biofuel can be used without any modification with the current diesel engines, gensets or boilers in use. This makes its product a direct replacement for petroleum or diesel.

The cleantech startup is serving various large enterprise customers from its biorefinery in Chakan, Pune. It now plans to significantly scale up production by setting up a large facility near Pune to cater to the increasing demand for green diesel. Greenjoules raised $4.5 Mn in its Series A funding round last year in June from Blue Ashva Capital. The funds raised are a combination of equity and debt.

Greenjoules will focus on growing its current product range but also on developing a portfolio of high-energy density liquid and gaseous biofuels. It will also focus on new research and development initiatives in future.

Greenko Group

Founded In: 2004
Founders: Anil Chalamalasetty, Mahesh Kolli
Funding Raised To Date: $6.7 Bn
Investors: GIC, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, DBS Bank, Barclays
Headquarters: Hyderabad

Greenko is a cleantech startup, that enables sustainable and affordable energy, with a net installed capacity of 7.5 GW across 15 states in India. It provides utility-scale, clean and affordable energy to customers.

Greenko has been opting for the green bond route in the past to raise funds for developing sustainable energy projects. It is developing state-of-the-art three multi-gigawatts scale integrated renewable energy storage projects with national grid connectivity in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh.

Greenko has raised funding from GIC, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, DBS Bank, and Barclays. These projects will harness the power of solar, and wind resources with digitally connected storage infrastructure to provide round-the-clock power to the grid.

Last month, global steel and mining firm ArcelorMittal partnered with Greenko to develop a round-the-clock renewable energy project with 975 MW of nominal capacity. The project will be owned and funded by ArcelorMittal. Greenko will design, construct and operate the renewable energy facilities in Andhra Pradesh. The project commissioning is expected by mid-2024.

h2e Power Systems

Founded In: 2011
Founders: Siddharth R Mayur, Amar Chakradeo, Bhavana S Mayur
Investors: Poonawalla Group
Headquarters: Pune

h2e is an end-to-end fuel cell and electrolyser company that offers clean energy solutions, including green hydrogen and alternate e-fuels. It also offers power solutions such as energy modules and power boxes. The startup claims to have built the country’s first green hydrogen production plant.

The startup follows the CRS (conserve, replace, sustainable and scalable) programme, which is central to the system. In 2020, it acquired Swiss company Hexis AG for an undisclosed amount.

With presence in four countries, the startup claims to cater to 182 clients and has more than 25 business partners. It competes with the likes of homegrown startups such as NewTrace, Ossus Biorenewables, Hydrogen Gentech, among others.

Hygenco

Founded In: 2020
Founders: Amit Bansal, Anshul Gupta, Aashish Gupta
Funding Raised To Date: $25.4 Mn
Investors: Neev II fund
Headquarters: Gurugram

Hygenco develops green hydrogen and green ammonia production assets for commercial purposes.

The startup’s LinkedIn profile says Hygenco’s team holds a combined experience of more than 30 years in construction, renewables, operations & maintenance, investment banking and private equity.

In October, the startup received $25.4 Mn in funding from the private equity fund Neev II fund. During that time, it said that it plans to invest more than $300 Mn in developing green hydrogen projects across the country in the coming three years.

Before that, it inked an offtake agreement with Indian steel company Jindal Stainless to build a multi-megawatt green hydrogen facility. With this plant, the startup would help Jindal reduce carbon emissions by nearly 2,700 metric tonnes annually.

Inficold

Founded In: 2015
Founders: Himanshu Pokharna, Nitin Goel
Funding Raised To Date: $9 Mn
Investors: RVCF, Shell Foundation
Headquarters: Delhi NCR

Cleantech startup Inficold provides cold storage solutions to its customers. The current product portfolio consists of modular cold storage and instant and bulk milk coolers. It provides round-the-clock cooling with just seven hours of grid/solar power.

Inficold claims to have developed a retrofittable thermal energy storage technology for storing cooling in a low-cost medium such as water to ice.

The technology is designed to use solar electric energy to make ice, and later use it for cooling purposes. Inficold’s products enable the application of thermal storage for virtually any cooling needs — be it milk, cold storage, air conditioning, or vaccine refrigeration — without making any major modifications to existing cooling hardware.

The startup raised INR 6.5 Cr in a funding round last year from RVCF and other undisclosed HNIs as a part of its Pre-Series A funding round.

The startup has installations in more than 17 states of India with a strong presence in northeastern states, including Assam, Meghalaya, and Tripura. Inficold claims that it is aggressively ramping up its production capacity by more than 10 times.

The increased capacity will allow it to cater to the demand with a minimised lead time for the customer, it said.

The startup is planning to expand its overall manufacturing, sales, and servicing capabilities. It plans to penetrate dairy, horticulture, poultry, meat, cold logistics and air conditioning segments across India.

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ION Energy

Founded In: 2016
Founders: Akhil Aryan, Alexandre Collet
Funding Raised To Date: $4.6 Mn
Investors: YourNest Venture Capital, Riso Capital, Venture Catalysts, Climate Pledge Fund, Climate Capital
Headquarters: Mumbai

ION Energy builds advanced electronics and software platforms for new energy companies. The company’s flagship product so far has been its Battery Management System (BMS), which enables OEMs/Battery Pack Makers to deploy smart battery systems.

In 2019, the cleantech startup launched Altergo (previously called Edison Analytics), a digital twin platform for battery intelligence. Altergo now manages 700+ MWh of battery storage in the cloud.

ION currently supplies to 75+ OEMs across 15 countries including India, France, Spain and the US. Since its inception, ION Energy claims to have deployed more than 60,000 smart BMS in electric vehicles and stationary storage systems.

The startup raised $3.6 Mn in Pre-Series A funding in July 2021 from the Climate Pledge Fund, joined by Silicon Valley-based Climate Capital, early-stage investor YourNest Venture Capital, Riso Capital, Venture Catalysts, and other angel investors.

This startup is looking to expand its product development and software business in other countries.

Log9 Materials

Founded In: 2015
Founders: Akshay Singhal, Kartik Hajela, Pankaj Sharma
Funding Raised To Date: $65 Mn
Investors: Metaform Ventures, Exfinity Venture Partners, Surge Ahead, Petronas Ventures, Incred Financial, Unity Small Finance Bank, Oxyzo Financial Services, Western Capital Advisors, Amara Raja Batteries
Headquarters: Bengaluru

Battery technology startup Log9 Materials is a graphene research and development startup that accelerates the commercialization of graphene nanotechnology. Their first developed product of this technology is ‘smoke-safe’ which is a cigarette that reduces the risk of getting cancer by 90%.

Log9 Materials has developed technology for both stationary and automotive applications such as electric vehicles (EVs). Aluminium fuel cells are aluminium-air batteries (AI-air batteries) that produce electricity from oxygen and aluminium reactions. The technology used in the battery is similar to the hydrogen fuel cell but more economical, safer and scalable.

In January, it secured $40 Mn funding in its Series B round led by Amara Raja Batteries Ltd. Before this, it raised $3.5 Mn funding in a Series A round led by Exfinity Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital India’s accelerator programme Surge.

In April last year, it inaugurated its indigenously developed cell manufacturing facility at Jakkuru in Bengaluru.

It has been working on unique cell chemistry for its RapidX battery packs powered by InstaCharge technology, which offers nine times faster charging, better performance, and battery life as compared to conventional lithium-ion electric vehicle batteries.

It aims to achieve at least 50MWh of peak cell production capacity in the next year, and scale it to over 5GWh in the next three to five years, Log9 Materials said in a statement.

Lohum

Founded In: 2017
Founders: Rajat Verma, Justin Lemmon and Gazanfar Safvi
Funding Raised To Date: $7 Mn
Investors: Baring Private Equity Partners, Talbros
Headquarters: Delhi NCR

Lohum is a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery pack manufacturer and battery materials (cobalt, lithium, nickel, etc) recycler.

The cleantech startup addresses battery business across three cycles, first life with new batteries for two and three-wheeler original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and stationary applications including for UPS and telecom, second life, which enhances the life of existing batteries, and lastly, end-of-life management offering recycling solutions.

Given the government’s focus on setting up giga factories in India, the startup sees a huge unfolding opportunity to provide the entire lifecycle management solutions.

The startup claims to generate 80% of its revenue from sales of EV batteries to solar plants, and electric two and three-wheeler companies, while 10% comes from the energy storage system (ESS) and 10% from its recycling business.

The recycling startup Lohum raised $7 Mn in a fresh round of funding from institutional investors led by Baring Private Equity Partners in January 2021.

Lohum has plans to expand its manufacturing capacity of lithium-ion batteries from 300 MWh to 1000 MWh (1 GWh) and its recycling capacity 10 times, from 1,000 tonnes per annum to 10,000 tonnes per annum.

Loom Solar

Founded In: 2018
Founders: Amod Anand, Amol Anand
Funding Raised To Date: $2 Mn
Investors: Social Investment Managers and Advisors
Headquarters: Delhi NCR

Loom is a B2C solar startup that offers solar panels, lithium batteries, solar inverters, solar wires, panel stands and charge controllers. It operates in both online and offline channels.

Apart from offering solar solutions, the startup also provides a credit facility to consumers to procure products at a 0% interest rate. In January this year, it secured $2 Mn in funding from Social Investment Managers and Advisors (SIMA) under the Energy Access Relief fund.

It operates one manufacturing unit and has a presence in 500 Indian districts. As per its website, the startup manages 100 employees.

In FY2021, its revenue stood at INR 35 Cr and of this, 60% was accounted for solar panels. It aims to expand its energy storage solutions and grow its market share from 1% to 5% by 2025.

It also claimed to have connected with 10,000 resellers and looks to partner with strategic investors in the future.

Metastable Materials

Founded In: 2021
Founders: Shubham Vishvakarma, Saurav Goyal Manikumar Uppala
Funding Raised To Date: Undisclosed
Investors: Sequoia Surge, Speciale Invest, Theia Ventures, Akshay Singhal, Archana Priyadershini
Headquarters: Bengaluru

Founded in October 2021, Metastable Materials claims to have developed the world’s first, chemical-free integrated carbothermal reduction process for recycling and extracting valuable materials, such as copper, aluminium, cobalt, nickel and lithium from Li-ion batteries.

The startup opened a 21,000 sq ft urban mining facility located on the outskirts of Bengaluru in October 2022. The facility can process 1,500 tonnes of material annually, which accounts for up to 6% of India’s recycling demand for Li-ion batteries.

It has raised an undisclosed amount of funding recently from Sequoia’s Surge, as part of its Surge 08 cohort.

MYSUN

Founded In: 2016
Founders: Gagan Vermani, Gyan Prakash Tiwari, Ashit Maru
Funding Raised To Date: $9 Mn
Investors: Tata Cleantech Capital, General Catalyst
Headquarters: Delhi NCR

MYSUN is a technology-backed B2B2C rooftop solar platform providing hyperlocal end-to-end solar solutions and long-term maintenance services. It provides solar energy to industries, small and medium enterprises/medium small and micro enterprises, and homes.

The cleantech startup is creating a network of clients/buildings (residential, industrial and commercial customers) across 100 cities (Tier 1/2/3). Last year, MYSUN bagged 140-megawatt open-access solar power projects from Uttar Pradesh Power Transmission Corp Ltd.

Under its new asset vehicle MYSUN+, it is expanding its presence across states such as Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Delhi NCR. The cleantech startup is already in early-stage development of more than 220 MW of projects under the captive/ open access mechanisms.

In July 2021, the firm raised INR 15 Cr from Tata Cleantech in debt funding to expand its pipeline of projects.

MYSUN is looking to improve its technology infrastructure, scale up its service offerings, and expand to newer geographies, both in India and globally, including parts of the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, and Africa.

Nepra

Founded In: 2011
Founders: Sandeep Patel, Dhrumin Patel, Ravi Patel
Funding Raised To Date: $24.5 Mn
Investors: Aavishkaar Capital, Circulate Capital, Asha Impact
Headquarters: Ahmedabad

Nepra offers an integrated, efficient and scalable waste management solution that connects all stakeholders along the value chain, from municipalities to informal waste pickers, as well as recyclers and brand owners.

The startup processes over 500 tonnes of dry waste every day across Ahmedabad, Indore and Pune with the help of 1,700 collectors. The cleantech startup claims to have positively impacted the lives of 5K people at the very bottom of the waste management industry over the last eight years.

The dry waste management startup raised $18 Mn in Series C funding from Aavishkaar Capital and Circulate Capital in 2020. The cleantech startup claims to bring transparency and scalability to the highly unorganised waste management sector in the country.

Nepra plans to expand its capacity generation and manage dry waste across more cities in India. It plans to expand to 25 cities in India by 2025.

NewTrace

Founded In: 2021
Founders: Prasanta Sarkar, Rochan Sinha
Funding Raised To Date: $6.6 Mn
Investors: Speciale Invest, Micelio Fund
Headquarters: Bengaluru

Newtrace develops batteries and electrolysers for producing green hydrogen for industries. Before founding the startup, both founders had completed PhD degrees in engineering disciplines.

In July, the startup secured $1 Mn in a pre-seed funding round led by Speciale Invest and Micelio Fund. Angel investors also have participated in the funding round. In May, the startup picked up another $5.6 Mn in seed funding.

During that time, it wanted to build electrolyzers offering 1 megawatt (MW) by 2025 and further increase the capacity of electrolyzers to 10MW by 2027. It further looks to help varied industries such as petrochemical, ammonia, mobility, energy and steel, among others reduce their carbon footprint.

As per the startup’s website, it is currently pilot-testing its products. Back in 2021, it tested its prototype at IIT Madras and before that, it got shortlisted for a pre-incubation programme led by NSRCEL and Maruti Suzuki.

Offgrid Energy

Founded In: 2018
Founders: Rishi Srivastava, Tejas Kusurkar, Brindan Tulachan, Ankur Agarwal
Funding Raised To Date: $1.3 Mn
Investors: Shell Ventures, Ankur Capital, APVC
Headquarters: Kanpur

Energy tech startup Offgrid has developed a rechargeable zinc-carbon battery that outperforms available battery technologies in terms of power density, life and cost.

Offgrid has more than 15 patents, designs and trademarks to its name, with a primary focus on renewable energy storage, microgrids, electric vehicle charging and grid applications in utilities.

The startup’s flagship product, ZincGel Battery technology has energy efficiency at par with a lithium-ion battery. It has twice the life cycle and negligible operational cost — thereby saving up to 30% cost for energy storage projects. Alternatively, existing lead-acid manufacturers can make ZincGel batteries easily with available equipment.

In February 2022, Offgrid raised undisclosed funds from energy solutions giant Shell, venture capitalists Ankur Capital and APVC to take its flagship product rechargeable zinc-based battery ZincGel to the market.

The startup has previously raised a small angel round from overseas investors and was seed-funded by Shell India.

The cleantech startup plans to cater to multiple industries such as renewables, microgrids, electric vehicles and utilities through its different variants of zinc-carbon batteries.

Oorjan Cleantech

Founded In: 2014
Founders: Roli Gupta, Das Gautam
Funding Raised To Date: $450K
Investors: Aditya Sharma, Globevestor, Nisha Pillai, Mayur Bhat, Sayandev Chakravartti
Headquarters: Mumbai

Solar energy startup Oorjan offers solar on-grid systems, ranging from 1kWp to 10kWp, to residential, commercial and industrial use cases. Besides this, it also operates three verticals–SolarSME, Greenstitute and Greenjobs.

Under its SolarSME, the startup helps small and medium-sized enterprises to kick start as well as promote their solar businesses. It additionally provides credit facilities to individual consumers and PPA financing to commercial customers.

Under Greenstitute, it offers certified courses on solar energy and systems to students in association with academic institutions. On the other hand, Greenjobs acts as an online job portal connecting job seekers with companies.

In 2017, it raised $450K in seed funding led by venture capital firm Globevestor. Chakravartti, Aditya Sharma, Nisha Pillai and Mayur Bhat also participated in the funding round.

The startup claims to have served more than 1,500 customers across 15+ states of India.

Ossus Biorenewables

Founded In: 2017
Founders: Suruchi Rao, Shanta Rao and Kamar Suhail Basha
Funding Raised To Date: $2.4 Mn
Investors: Gruhas, Rainmatter Climate
Headquarters: Bengaluru

Founded in 2017 by Suruchi Rao, Shanta Rao and Kamar Suhail Basha, Ossus’ AI-powered bioreactors absorb carbon from wastewater produced by industries and supply them with green hydrogen gas.

The bioreactors mainly use microorganisms sourced directly from wastewater as catalysts for green hydrogen production. The startup currently works with steel, starch and energy companies and helps them produce hydrogen gas at a cost of less than $1 per kg.

In May 2023, Ossus secured $2.4 Mn in funding in its pre-Series A round from Gruhas, cofounded by Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamath with Puzzolana’s Abhijeet Pai, and Rainmatter Climate. The startup invested the fresh funds to accelerate the deployment of its bioreactor, OB HydraCel, across sectors like refining, foods, brewing, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

Orb Energy

Founded In: 2006
Founders: Damian Miller, NP Ramesh
Funding Raised To Date: $13.6 Mn
Investors: FMO, Bamboo Capital Partners, Rianta Capital, Acumen Capital Market Funds I, Pamiga SA
Headquarters: Bengaluru

Orb Energy offers solar energy solutions (solar electricity and solar water heating) to residential, commercial and industrial customers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

To enable SMEs to afford solar energy, the cleantech startup has set up an in-house finance facility to provide extended payment terms to customers. Orb also provides credit to SMEs to invest in solar panel systems.

Since its inception in 2006, Orb has sold more than 160,000 solar systems, with cumulative installations of more than 110MW of rooftop solar systems.

Further, Orb Energy manufactures its solar panels and solar water heating systems in-house to control quality and cost.

Orb Energy raised a $15 Mn debt fund in 2019 to augment its capital base. It raised an undisclosed amount from Shell’s New Energies business by divesting an almost 20% stake in the firm in a Series C round of funding in 2019.

Shell’s New Energies business has acquired a 20% stake in solar firm Orb Energy in a funding round in 2019. It has so far received more than $13 Mn in equity and around $10 Mn debt in Series A and Series B rounds.

Orb is based in Bengaluru, where it runs two factories, one producing solar photovoltaic panels and the other producing solar water heating systems. Orb is looking to help more Indian SMEs to benefit from lower-cost solar power in future.

OxyGarden

Founded In: 2019
Founders: Anshu Gupta, Abhishek Gupta
Funding Raised To Date: $70K
Investors: NA
Headquarters: Gurugram

OxyGarden has developed Forest, an automated vertical green wall designed to purify the air in homes and commercial spaces. The green wall uses a soil and root-based filtration system to naturally purify the air, creating a forest-like environment within living spaces.

In addition to air purification, Forest helps to regulate relative humidity levels with the help of controlled transpiration in plants. The product is designed to require minimal maintenance and does not require any human intervention once installed, according to the company.

To date, OxyGarden has raised $1.7 Mn in funding from investors to support the development and growth of its product line.

Pi Green Innovations

Founded In: 2019
Founders: Irfan Pathan and Rizwan Shaikh
Funding Raised To Date: $4.8 Mn
Investors: Opus Consulting Solutions, Harshal Morde (Morde Foods)
Headquarters: Pune

Pi Green Innovations creates technology-driven solutions for the reduction of particulate matter emissions at source. The startup has a patented filterless technology that converts smoke to its powder form, soot.

Some of the startup’s solutions include carbon cutter machines, filterless retrofits for diesel generators and heavy vehicles; and RepAi, a filterless ambient air-purification tower that can be installed in public spaces.

As per the founders, the cleantech startup has developed a retrofit solution for existing conventionally-fuelled heavy vehicles, diesel-fuelled generator sets and industrial boilers to reduce and capture hazardous particulate matter (PM) emissions and pollution caused every day.

Pi Green’s retrofit device can capture 90% of the particulate matter emitted from the genset in real-time ranging from PM2.5 to PM10. The device works on the principle of electrostatic precipitator.

The cleantech startup secured over $4.5 Mn in Series A funding in December 2021. The round was led by the Investment Fund of Opus Consulting with a total of $4.3 Mn.

Its plans include working on after-treatment solutions for crematoriums. A pilot run is already underway at a crematorium in Bengaluru and a heavy vehicles retrofit pilot with the Bengaluru Municipal Corporation for two buses.

Prescinto

Founded In: 2016
Founders: Puneet Jaggi, Ram Menon, Sanjay Bhasin
Funding Raised To Date: $5.3 Mn
Investors: Mumbai Angels Network, Inflection Point Ventures, 9Unicorns Accelerator Fund, Lets Venture
Headquarters: Bengaluru

SaaS solar energy startup Prescinto uses Artificial Intelligence to identify the root causes of plants’ underperformance in real-time and suggest actions to improve generation in clean energy plants by 5 to 7%. It helps in reducing costs of operation and maintenance.

Prescinto has been deployed across 10,000+ MWs of solar and wind projects across 14 countries with marquee clients like SoftBank Energy, Macquarie and Radiance Renewables managing their solar and wind assets on Prescinto.

Prescinto IOT platform is designed for vendor-independent connectivity and provides insights for solar PV plants. Prescinto’s patent-pending technology buckets losses into downtime, soiling, and systemic loss and immediately converts each loss into actionable job tickets along with projected gains.

It has customers such as Stride Climate Investments, Essel Infrastructure, and GMR, among others to achieve traction of 3X annual growth reaching over 9 Giga Watts of solar plants across more than 10 countries.

Prescinto raised $3.5 Mn in a Seed funding round in March 2021 led by Venture Catalysts. Inflexion Point Ventures, Mumbai Angels and LetsVenture also participated as part of this round.

The Bengaluru-based cleantech startup is looking to expand in international markets, primarily in the US market, and for Intellectual Property development. Prescinto aims to expand into wind and energy storage as well.

Proklean

Founded In: 2012
Founders: Sivaram Pillai, Bala Chandrashekar, Vishwadeep Kuila
Funding Raised To Date: $5.36 Mn
Investors: Raintree Family Office
Headquarters: Chennai

Founded in 2012 by Sivaram Pillai and Bala Chandrashekar, and later joined by Vishwadeep Kuila, Proklean offers non-toxic and biodegradable green chemistry solutions to clients across industries such as textiles, pulp and paper, water management and biosurfactants.

Proklean also sells household cleaning products across online marketplaces and offline stores in Chennai.

Proklean last raised $4 Mn as part of its strategic funding round from the Raintree Family Office in June this year. The startup claims to have turned EBITDA profitable in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) with a revenue of INR 40 Cr.

Recykal

Founded In: 2016
Founder: Abhishek Deshpande
Funding Raised To Date: $44.5 Mn
Investors: 360 ONE Asset Management, Morgan Stanley, Circulate Capital, Bank of Singapore, Triton Investment Advisors, Pidilite Industries, Vellayan Subbiah, Arun Venkatachalam
Headquarters: Hyderabad

Founded in 2016 by Abhishek Deshpande, Hyderabad-based Recykal offers cloud-based solutions that enable transparent and traceable material flows in waste.

The startup works with businesses to track and meet their EPR (extended producer responsibility) targets, dispose of e-waste responsibly, track their plastic footprint and offers a SaaS-based track and trace platform to monitor industrial waste and help report accurate ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) and SDG (the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals) metrics.

In April 2024, Recykal raised INR 110 Cr (around $13.5 Mn) in funding in its Series B round led by 360 ONE Asset Management. The startup reported a net loss of INR 25.7 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) as against a net profit of INR 1.2 Cr in FY22.

ReNew Power

Founded In: 2011
Founders: Sumant Sinha
Funding Raised To Date: $3.2 Bn
Investors: Goldman Sachs, Franklin Templeton India, JP Morgan, L&T, Sylebra Capital, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
Headquarters: Delhi NCR

ReNew Power is an independent power producer (IPP) of renewable energy using clean sources such as wind, hydro and solar power. The startup can generate more than 8 gigawatts of power assets across 16 states in India, including commissioned as well as under-development projects.

Renew Power joined the startup unicorn club in 2017 after raising $300 Mn through a rights issue. Goldman Sachs, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board have subscribed to the issue, with each shareholder infusing $100 Mn, it said. According to its website, ReNew’s total capacity was 10.2 GW and its commissioned capacity was 7.3 GW, as of February 2022.

ReNew Energy raised $400 Mn in January 2022 at 4.5% by issuing green bonds. ReNew is setting up a joint venture (JV) with Fluence to boost the energy storage sector and meet the local needs of Indian customers. The startup has entered into a partnership agreement with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) to develop, own, execute and operate green hydrogen projects in India.

To enable India’s decarbonisation push, Indian Oil Corporation, L&T, and ReNew Power signed a JV company on April 3, 2022. It is working to develop the green hydrogen sector in India. The cleantech startup intends to own 18 GW of renewable energy assets by FY25.

rePurpose

Founded In: 2019
Founders: Svanika Balasubramanian, Peter Wang Hjemdahl, Aditya Siroya
Funding Raised To Date: Undisclosed
Investors: NA
Headquarters: Bengaluru/New York City

Founded in 2019 by Svanika Balasubramanian, Peter Wang Hjemdahl and Aditya Siroya, rePurpose is a social enterprise, which also acts as a plastic credit platform. rePurpose enables individuals and businesses to become plastic-neutral and take responsibility for their plastic footprint by funding recycling the same amount of plastic waste they produce.

The startup allows companies to track their plastic footprint, offers advice on reducing their plastic footprint and works on projects related to recovering plastic waste. rePurpose claims to have recovered 22,369 tonnes of nature-bound plastic waste so far.

In its endeavour, the startup has received several accolades and has been recognised by the United Nations Environment Programme as one of the top 12 innovators in plastic recycling in the world.

Sea6 Energy

Founded In: 2010
Founders: Nelson Vadassery, Shrikumar Suryanarayan, Sowmya Balendiran, Sri Sailaja Nori
Funding Raised To Date: $17.9 Mn
Investors: Aqua-Spark, Silverstrand Capital, Tata Capital Innovation Fund
Headquarters: Bengaluru

Sea6 Energy develops technologies to convert biomass into biofuel, plant growth stimulants, plant defence products, animal feed ingredients, and other bio-renewable products to replace chemicals and plastics.

The cleantech startup has also developed proprietary technologies to convert fresh seaweed into environmentally friendly products for a range of industries including agriculture, animal health, food ingredients, bioplastics and renewable chemicals.

Sea6 Energy exports its patented agriculture biostimulant product to countries including the USA, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

The seaweed farming and processing startup raised $9 Mn in Series B funding in July 2021 led by Aqua-Spark, the Netherlands-based investment fund. Singapore-based Silverstrand Capital is the co-investor in the round.

The startup will work on additional SeaCombine systems to increase the supply of seaweed raw material and expand its processing capacity with additional facilities to produce Sea6’s agricultural biostimulant and animal health products.

SenseHawk

Founded In: 2018
Founders: Rahul Sankhe and Swarup Mavanoorl
Funding Raised To Date: $7.1 Mn
Investors: Alpha Wave Global, SAIF Partners, Elevation Capital
Headquarters: Bengaluru

Cloud-based cleantech startup SenseHawk enables owners, managers and developers of solar assets to gain new insights about their plants that enable maximisation of returns.

The initial focus of the startup is on the rapidly growing solar industry with future expansion to other similar sectors.

Its solutions combine different kinds of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), sensors, data processing and planning chains to create decision-making tools that drive productivity in the energy and infrastructure industries.

The startup claims that it has delivered data analytics for more than 28 GWs of solar assets across 15 countries worldwide, and has nearly 80 clients.

SenseHawk raised $5.1 Mn in a Series A funding round in 2020 led by Alpha Wave Incubation, backed by Abu Dhabi-based ADQ. Existing investor SAIF Partners also participated in the round.

The startup is looking to expand its presence in Abu Dhabi, and also build a team of data scientists, product managers and engineers in the region.

It is planning to use Abu Dhabi as the global base for international expansion while targeting the Gulf Cooperation Council countries — the Middle East North Africa and other global markets.

Skilancer Solar

Founded In: 2017
Founders: Manish Kumar Das, Neeraj Kumar
Funding Raised To Date: $652K
Investors: Boundary Holding, Venture Catalysts, IIML-Incubator, Neeraj Kumar, Dhianu Das, Alfa Ventures
Headquarters: Noida

Skilancer Solar offers cleaning services for solar panels installed in commercial parks and other establishments.

The startup was founded by Neeraj Kumar, who has three years of experience in the solar industry, and Manish Kumar Das, who brings ten years of experience in instrumentation engineering to the team.

Skilancer Solar’s client portfolio includes several prominent organisations such as Hindustan Petroleum, Adani, Ambit Energy, and Unilink Group.

The startup has received over $652K in funding from a range of investors, including Boundary Holding, Venture Catalysts, IIML-Incubator, Neeraj Kumar, Dhianu Das, and Alfa Ventures.

Solar Ladder

Founded In: 2021
Founders: Manan Mehta, Abhishek Pillai, Farhan Ahmed
Funding Raised To Date: $1.34 Mn
Investors: Axilor Ventures, Titan Capital, DeVC, Stride Ventures, Varun Alagh
Headquarters: Mumbai

Founded in 2021 by Manan Mehta, Abhishek Pillai and Farhan Ahmed, Solar Ladder is an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) service provider in the rooftop solar energy space.

Having partnered with five NBFCs, the Mumbai-based startup offers collateral-free financing to both EPC installers and end users.

Solar Ladder also offers a free SaaS tool, which integrates modules encompassing sales, marketing, installation, accounts and project management. It gives EPC installers more visibility into a business’s various functions such as ongoing projects, inventory and payments.

The cleantech startup last secured INR 11 Cr ($1.34 Mn) in funding in May 2023 to fuel its expansion plans.

SmartJoules

Founded In: 2014
Founders: Arjun P Gupta, Ujjal Majumdar, Sidhartha Gupta
Funding Raised To Date: $4.35 Mn
Investors: ADB Ventures, Sangam Ventures, Max Limited, cKinetics Accelerator, Dabur family’s Saket Burman
Headquarters: Delhi NCR

Energy-efficiency-as-a-service startup Smart Joules offers capital expenditure-free retrofits for commercial and industrial facilities by improving the overall design of energy-intensive systems like cooling, heating, compressed air and steam.

The cleantech startup claims its DeJoule technology platform utilises various sensors and IoT controllers to track and control equipment and optimise overall facility performance in real-time using data. This tech platform allows SmartJoules to guarantee its clients 15% energy savings.

Its JoulePAYS service makes energy savings easy and profitable from day one with zero investment and zero risk for hospital/hotel owners under a single pay-as-you-save agreement.

Smart Joules has provided its full-stack solution for leading Indian hospital chains, including Apollo, Fortis, KIMS, Aster, and CARE, among others.

In March 2021, Smart Joules raised $4.1 Mn in its Series A funding round from various investors, namely ADB Ventures, Sangam Ventures, and Max Limited, among others. It raised $4.9 Mn in a Series A funding round from various investors in April 2021.

SmartJoules’ plans include strengthening its energy management team, enhancing its digital technology platform, expanding its presence across hospitals and scaling its cooling-as-a-service offering for commercial buildings and industries with heavy air conditioning loads such as pharmaceuticals and data centres.

SolarSquare

Founded In: 2015
Founders: Neeraj Subhash Jain, Nikhil Satejlal Nahar
Funding Raised To Date: $16.08 Mn
Investors: Elevation Capital, Lowercarbon Capital, Good Capital, Rainmatter, Vidit Atrey, Sanjeev Barnwal, Maninder Gulati, Ashish Goel, Amit Kumar Agarwal, Akhil Gupta, Saurabh Garg
Headquarters: Mumbai

Cleantech startup SolarSquare offers rooftop solar panels for residential and commercial purposes. It also provides financing facilities to customers at a 0% interest rate. It currently has a presence in Bengaluru, Delhi, and Hyderabad as well as states including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra

Initially, the startup only provided commercial rooftop solar solutions but in 2020, it started catering to the needs of residential consumers too. During the same year, it elevated Shreya Mishra, its CEO to the position of cofounder.

In November last year, it raised $12.08 Mn in a Series A funding round led by Elevation Capital and Lowercarbon Capital. Good Capital, Rainmatter, Meesho’s Vidit Atrey and Sanjeev Barnwal also participated in the round.

Its cap table includes Lowercarbon Capital, Symphony Asia, OYO’s Maninder Gulati, Urban Ladder’s Ashish Goel and Nobroker founders Amit Kumar Agarwal, Akhil Gupta & Saurabh Garg, among others.

Earlier, it claimed to have served nearly 5,000 residential customers and also aimed to standardise its installation quality.

SolarTown Energy

Founded In: 2012
Founders: Vikram Dileepan, Dhanush Kuttuva
Funding Raised To Date: $200K
Investors: GREX
Headquarters: Chennai

SolarTown Energy makes clean energy for homeowners, businesses, schools, non-profit and government organisations at low cost.

The cleantech startup provides solutions and products for home-based systems, small and mid-size businesses, and buildings.

SolarTown provides for the sale, lease and installation of solar rooftop systems from 1 kW to 300 kW for residential, commercial and industrial customers. SolarTown Energy claims to have installed more than 100 solar systems and counts Infosys and Renault-Nissan among its customers.

The startup is looking for market expansion, investment in technology, international business development and working capital requirements.

Swajal

Founded In: 2015
Founders: Advait Kumar, Vibha Tripathi
Funding Raised To Date: $2.8 Mn
Investors: Rajasthan Venture Capital Fund, Pramod Agarwal (former CFO at Procter & Gamble), ACPL
Headquarters: Delhi NCR

Swajal is an artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled water purification solution that looks to enable access to clean drinking water across the socio-economic spectrum.

The cleantech startup claims to have developed solar-energy-powered remote sensing water purification systems (also known as water ATMs) with user interfaces and payment mechanisms for airports, hotels, offices, schools and railway stations among others, where it essentially replaces the plastic, encouraging people to bring their utensils/bottles to fill water.

Swajal also helps corporate customers move away from plastic bottles to glass bottles using its in-house water bottle washing, filling and monitoring plant (WaterCube). The startup earns revenue from consumers buying its systems or a per-litre price for the as-per-usage model.

Last year, Swajal raised $1.6 Mn in funding from the social impact fund Rajasthan Venture Capital Fund, alongside Pramod Agarwal (former CFO at Procter & Gamble), ACPL and other angel investors.

The startup is planning to further enhance its research and development capabilities, thereby making drinking water more accessible, sustainable and plastic-free in the country.

The Energy Company

Founded In: 2021
Founders: Prashant Rathee, Rahul Lamba, Pratik Somani
Funding Raised To Date: Undisclosed
Investors: LetsVenture, WeFounderCircle, SIA Angel Network, Monokeros Ventures
Headquarters: Bengaluru

The Energy Company has developed a full-stack battery solution for EVs in India that helps B2B vehicle aggregators manage vehicle life cycles by giving them a longer-lasting battery pack via FlexiPack and better visibility on the battery life via its SaaS tool FlexiTwin.

The startup claims that its battery pack is scalable across electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers and buses and helps vehicles run for 50 km on just a 15-minute fast charge and 100 km after a 40-minute charge.

Meanwhile, The Energy company’s SaaS tool, FlexiTwin, takes inputs from the sensors installed on a battery to digitally record the battery performance, degradation and service history, with insights on battery health and ageing.

For now, the cleantech startup is in talks with five B2B clients, which have around 25,000 two-wheeler EVs. The startup also has letters of intent (LOIs) for around 2,000 electric two-wheelers.

Uravu Labs

Founded In: 2019
Founders: Pardeep Garg, Swapnil Shrivastav, Venkatesh R, Govinda Balaji
Funding Raised To Date: $274K
Investors: Speciale Invest, Peter Yolles (EchoRiver Capital), Soren Schroder, Shigeru Sumimoto (Conselux Corporation), Tomoki Kaneko (Kaneko Cord)
Headquarters: Bengaluru

Watertech startup Uravu Labs builds atmospheric water generators that run on 100% renewable energy. It creates water from the air using only renewable energy sources like solar, waste heat, or biomass to produce renewable water.

Uravu’s working prototype can channel air into a chamber containing desiccants like Silica which absorb the water content in the air. Once the desiccant is fully saturated, heat is applied to it using solar energy to extract the water in liquid form, as claimed by the startup.

The water-from-air concept is not new, as many startups already operate in the space. But unlike Uravu, most of them use refrigeration as a method to condense air in the atmosphere, which is an expensive process with high energy requirements.

Uravu’s method uses a desiccant that is relatively less capital-intensive and energy-intensive and also requires much less maintenance. The desiccant used in the machine has a shelf life of around ten years, and the rest of the components are mostly conventional electronic components like fans and pipes, according to the startup.

The water tech startup raised an undisclosed amount during a pre-seed funding round in December 2021 led by Speciale Invest. The startup plans to work with corporations on CSR efforts, and with government agencies like Jal Shakti, and MNRE, among others, to deliver clean drinking water to remote and rural areas in the country.

Varaha

Founded In: 2022
Founders: Madhur Jain, Ankita Garg, Vishal Kuchanur
Funding Raised To Date: $4 Mn
Investors: Orios Venture Partners, Omnivore, RTP Global, Better Capital, Kunal Shah
Headquarters: Gurugram

Climatetech startup Varaha helps agricultural farmers adopt regenerative agricultural practices by producing carbon credits, which help grow revenue and decrease operating expenses. It has a presence in six Indian states.

Explaining the modus operandi, the startup said it enrols agricultural farmers, quantifies greenhouse gases, verifies carbon credits, and then sells those credits to buyers.

In December 2022, it secured $4 Mn in a seed funding round for expanding business in South Asia. The round was led by Orios Venture Partners along with participation from Omnivore, RTP Global, Better Capital and CRED founder Kunal Shah.

Earlier, it claimed to have covered an expanse of more than 1.32 Lakh acres under its agroforestry, forest conservation and reforestation activities, among others. As per its website, the cleantech startup cloistered over 3.5 Lakh tonnes of carbon emissions and saved 1.55 Lakh Mn litres of water so far.

WEGoT

Founded In: 2015
Founders: Abilash Haridass, Vijay Krishna, Mohideen Haja, Sundeep Donthamshetty
Funding Raised To Date: $3.5 Mn
Investors: GRUHAS Proptech, Rahul Talwar (DLF Family Office) Harshad Reddy (Apollo Hospitals Family), HDFC Capital Advisory Ltd, Prestige Group
Headquarters: Chennai

Internet of Things-based cleantech startup WEGoT Utility Solutions delivers water management solutions to clients from single houses to multi-unit apartments and commercial complexes.

The cleantech clients include Prestige Group, Godrej Properties, Brigade Group, Mahindra World City, and Brookfield among others. WEGoT’s Smart Water Meters manage water consumption and quality in real-time. Its app enables effective monitoring, control and modification of water consumption based on user insights.

Since its inception, WEGoT has successfully implemented over 100,000 smart devices in over 30,000 homes and on over 40 Mn sq feet of commercial real estate. It has plans to scale up to one million devices in the coming months. The cleantech startup has effectively conserved over 3 Bn litres of water to date and pledges to further save 10 Bn litres in 2022, as claimed by the startup.

The startup that makes smart water meters, raised $1.5 Mn in a funding round in December 2021 led by Gruhas Proptech, a company backed by Abhijeet Pai of Puzzolana Group and Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha.

The startup plans to deploy more water management devices to houses and offices in 2022. WEGoT plans to deploy 10 lakh water management devices by the end of 2022.

Zenatix

Founded In: 2013
Founders: Amarjeet Singh, Vishal Bansal, Rahul Bhalla
Funding Raised To Date: $1.4 Mn
Investors: Blume Ventures, Microsoft Accelerator Bangalore, Pi Ventures,
Headquarters: Delhi NCR

Energy-data startup Zenatix is a data-driven energy efficiency platform that works with banks and large retail chains.

The cleantech startup helps organisations to save up to 10-30% on their electricity spend. The startup has deployed WattMan in over 500 retail outlets including bank branches and ATMs, across its clientele of 20 companies.

The energy-data startup raised INR 8 Cr in a Pre-Series A round of funding in 2017 led by pi Ventures.

Zenatix (part of the $11 Bn Hero Group) expanded its operations to the UAE and the Middle East in the April 2022 region to offer organisations a robust cloud-based energy and asset management solution.

The cleantech startup plans to deploy 2,500 WattMan in the coming months, increasing its clientele to over 50-60 companies across India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Based on a subscription-based model of revenues, Zenatix aims to expand more in the international markets in future.

ZunRoof

Founded In: 2016
Founders: Pranesh Chaudhary, Sushant Sachan
Funding Raised To Date: $4.7 Mn
Investors: Godrej Investment Office, Intellecap Impact Investment Network, Ramakant Sharma, (Livspace); Gaurav Gupta (Dalberg Advisors); Pradeep Tharakan (Asian Development Bank); Vismay Sharma (L’Oréal); Ajith Pai (Paipal Ventures); Arun Diaz (IntelleGrow)
Headquarters: Delhi NCR

ZunRoof specialises in solar rooftop design, installation, and management using technologies such as computer vision, AI and VR.

The cleantech startup helps reduce its electricity bills by using unutilised rooftops for solar power generation. It also offers IoT devices for power usage monitoring through a companion app.

ZunRoof offers projects with capacity in a range between 1 kilowatt (kW) and 70 kW for residential clients, small factories, schools, hospitals and hotels. Its total installed capacity has crossed 10 Megawatt since its inception in 2016.

The cleantech startup assessed more than 250,000 homes, designed over 30,000 rooftop solar systems in 75+ cities in India, and installed 15 MW+ of rooftop solar and 50,000+ IoT devices, as of last year.

ZunRoof Tech raised $3 Mn in a Series A round of funding from Godrej Investment Office in 2020. Godrej had invested $1.2 Mn in the startup in a Pre-Series A round in 2019. The cleantech startup entered the solar rooftop market in Bengaluru a few years ago and is planning to enter cities like Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi in future.

ZunRoof aims to resolve the affordability issue of solar rooftops in Indian homes. It will soon launch its service to improve the affordability of solar rooftops.

Last updated on June 5, 2024

The listicle has been updated to include three new startups – DigitalPaani, Ossus Biorenewables, and Recykal.