Merak Ventures, a sector-agnostic, early-stage venture capital (VC) firm, and Huddle, an accelerator-led fund for India’s early-stage ventures have announced the launch of ClimAct – a ClimateTech accelerator program.
The program aims to accelerate and fund early-stage ClimateTech start-ups in India working in areas such as agriculture-wastage & supply chain efficiency, mobility & transport, climate finance, carbon accounting & sequestration, and digital solutions.
ClimAct opens applications today, November 8th, and the cohort will kick off in February 2023. The program will run for four months, culminating in June 2023. The selected companies will gain access to an upfront Pre-Seed capital of $200k per start-up, with the potential for a follow-on investment of up to $1.5M post the 4-month program. ClimAct’s fund partners include Aavishkar Capital, Accel, Lok Capital, Matrix Partners, Nexus Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, and Stellaris Venture Partners.
“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 start-ups to get pre-seed funds, amass value from our partner network, and ease of access to climate focussed venture capital,” said Sheetal Bahl, Partner, Merak Ventures.
“The climate ecosystem requires active intervention, and there’s no greater time to invest in emerging technologies that will drive the change. At Huddle, our focus is on accelerating and investing in game-changing ventures addressing critical pain points around India’s vulnerability to climate change. Through ClimAct, we look forward to helping India decarbonise and achieve its Net Zero carbon emissions target by 2070,” said Ishaan Khosla, Founding Partner of Huddle.
India has a little over $1 Billion invested in climate tech from 2016 to 2021, marking a severe discrepancy compared to $40 billion across 600 plus companies globally. With India’s ambitious target of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2070, a push for investing in ClimateTech is critical.
In addition to capital, ClimAct will support the early build and validation phase of shortlisted companies with curated access to industry veterans, an extended network for pilot opportunities, and customised credits of up to $500K across technology and business functions to ensure that the focus on sustained decarbonization of the economy gains momentum.
The thesis areas for the program include –
- Agriculture Wastage and Supply Chain Efficiency: Solutions for food loss reduction, cold chain infrastructure, and precision agriculture to name a few.
- Mobility and Transport: Clean mobility, logistics, and novel battery solutions would be some examples.
- Climate Finance: Technology that largely engages with asset financing solutions and climate investing.
- Carbon Accounting – Carbon Markets and Carbon Sequestration: Carbon credit and compliance platforms to name a few.
- Digital Solutions – SaaS, Education, and ESG Compliance: Solutions such as community platforms for climate advocacy, and more.
Climate change is becoming a crisis that needs critical attention. India stands at a vulnerable point in this crisis, ranking 7th in the global climate risk index. The ClimAct accelerator program comes at a crucial point, as India’s climate change reversal requires investments of $1 trillion by 2030.
For more information about ClimAct, please visit: https://huddle.work/climact/