As the third largest emitter and the second most-populous country, India has a big role to play in the climate crisis. In the first part of this two-part series, with the help of two investors from Theia Ventures, we learned about the climate tech landscape in the region, who the main players are, what sectors are receiving the most funding, and where the main challenges lie. In this second part we look at 20 startups to watch across India. Some of these startups were recommended to us by Theia Ventures, and others have already been, or were on our list to be, featured in our weekly series 5 Startups to Watch.
These startups have been categorized according to their emissions classifications based off fuel emissions from the most detailed, recent data SBC could identify from the World Resource Institute in 2016. You can find an explanation of the emissions sectors and our running list of startups in each sector here.
Now, onto the startups…
Energy use in Industry and Buildings
#1. Gegadyne Energy
Founded: 2015 – Mumbai, Maharashtra
Founders: Jubin Varghese and Ameya Gadiwan
Elevator pitch: Gegadyne Energy is developing a proprietary battery bechnology that can charge from 0-100% under 15 mins all of this while compiling to highest safety standards compared to any existing battery tech across the globe.
Problem they solve: The chemistry in today’s batteries occludes fast charging and longer cycle life. Longer charge time is one of the major drawbacks in mass adaption of electric vehicles. Shorter cycle life requires frequent need to replace batteries.
Our high capacity anode and cathode materials, with proprietary electrolytes, offer ultra-high performance with faster charging for a large range of devices.
Stage: Series A
To find more about its products and mission, see here.
#2. Prescinto
Founded: 2016 – Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Founders: Puneet Jaggi, Sanjay Bhasin, and Ram Menon
Elevator pitch: Prescinto’s AI-powered platform enhances the performance of your renewable energy or energy storage assets, streamlines operations and maintenance, and maximizes your returns.
Problem they solve: Prescinto continuously collects and cleans data to provide insights that can be visualized on custom dashboards, and triggers alerts if something requires urgent attention. Prescinto’s AI powered platform uses pre-trained data models to identify root causes of plant underperformance in real time to reduce costs and increase generation by ~7%. It converts each identified loss into prioritized job tickets based on projected gains which are sent to field teams through Prescinto’s seamless Computerized Maintenance Management System module.
Stage: Seed
To find more about its products and mission, see here.
#3. Clairco
Founded: 2018 – Bengaluru, Karnataka
Founders: Aayush Jha and Udayan Banerjee
Elevator pitch: Clairco provides enhanced air purification and real-time insights to reduce maintenance costs, increase energy efficiency, and improve occupant experience
Problem they solve: Air purification has been conventionally very expensive and demands high capital expenditure which is why its adoption has been low despite an urgent need, specially in the post-COVID world. At Clairco we have developed patented technologies to make air purification affordable, measurable and scalable for commercial real estate.
Stage: Pre-seed
To find more about its products and mission, see here.
#4. Smart Joules
Founded: 2015 – New Delhi
Founder: Arjun Gupta
Elevator pitch: Smart Joules is an energy management company providing energy efficient solution through their high performance IoT devices
Problem they solve: Energy efficiency is the cleanest, quickest and cheapest way to bring more than 300 million Indians out of energy poverty. By eliminating waste in their own operations, building owners can save money, simplify operations, improve comfort and free up resources for the less fortunate. Smart Joules makes this process seamless and profitable from day one.
Stage: Series A
To find more about its products and mission, see here.
#5. Newtrace
Founded: 2021 – Bengaluru, Karnataka
Founders: Prasanta Sarkar and Rochan Sinha
Elevator pitch: Newtrace is building a next-gen electrolyzers for producing green hydrogen at $1/kg.
Problem they solve: NewTrace is on a mission to enable cost effective and reliable access to green hydrogen at $1/kg through our massively scalable electrolyzer technology in order to accelerate decarbonisation of mobility, industrial, energy and chemical sectors.
Stage: Pre-seed
To find more about its products and mission, see here.
Energy use in transport
#6. Kazam
Founded: 2020 – Bengaluru, Karnataka
Founder: Akshay Shekhar
Elevator pitch: Kazam is an all in one electric vehicle charging station platform
Problem they solve: Kazam CMS is a software product developed for electric vehicle fleets, chargepoint operators, charging stations manufacturers, and other commercial properties like workplaces, residential societies etc which will allow them to set up their own charging network without any software development hassle.
Stage: Seed
To find more about its products and mission, see here.
#7. GoGreenBov
Founded: 2009 – Bengaluru, Karnataka
Founders: Dhivik A and Ashish Tripathi
Elevator pitch: Our business model is based on the data that we collect from our EVs. We produce 2-wheelers that are high in performance, low in capex cost, and highly connected. Our initial focus has been on last mile delivery vehicles and we have orders worth 13Mn USD. We believe in moving from ownership to usership.
Problem they solve: We are bringing in vehicles to the masses in developing countries since connected, high-performance EVs are still a thing of the elite few. Reduced costs, usership models help the move to the mid-bottom of the pyramid.
Stage: Series A
To find more about its products and mission, see here.
#8. ChargeKart
Founded:
2022 – Telengana, India
Founder:
Arun Reddy Thumma
Elevator Pitch:
ChargeKart provides mobile charging units that exclusively provide onsite delivery of clean, fast and adoptive charging for EVs
Problem They Solve:
EVs are advertised as a climate friendly option to fight climate change but the power required to run these EVs is generated from burning coal or gas which increases indirect emission into environment. There is no convenient charging system available and the conventional charging infrastructure does not understand batteries while charging.
Stage:
Early-stage
To find more about its products and mission, see here.
#9. Welectric
Founded: 2019 – Bengaluru, Karnataka
Founder: Vikas Jain and Tamilselvan Subramanian
Elevator pitch: Welectric is a data driven digital platform for lifecycle management of all brands of electric two wheelers
Problem they solve: India is the largest under-penetrated two-wheeler market in the world. At least 200 million two-wheelers will be sold in India in the next 10 years.
Electric two-wheeler technology has the potential to not just replace 100% of new sales to electric but also expand the market. Due to lower cost of ownership, more Indians will be able to afford personal mobility. This means better access to education and employment to millions and therefore better quality of life to millions of families.
Stage: Pre-seed
To find more about its products and mission, see here.
Waste (water & landfills)
#10. Saathi Pads
Founded: 2015 – Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Founder: Kristin Kagetsu and Tarun Bothra
Elevator pitch: Saathi Pads creates the first pads that are good for your body, community, and environment: 100% biodegradable all-natural sanitary pads from banana and bamboo fiber.
Problem they solve: Saathi is the first company to make a 100% biodegradable sanitary pad from banana fibre. We believe in a cradle-to-cradle approach to women’s health that benefits women and their communities at every step. Our women-led team was founded in 2014 by MIT and Nirma graduate, Kristin, Tarun and Grace. We are headquartered in Ahmedabad, India. Our production plant is proudly women-operated.
Stage: Seed
To find more about its products and mission, see here.
#11. FluxGen
Founded: 2011 – Bengaluru, Karnataka
Founder: Ganesh Shankar
Elevator pitch: FluxGen is a water intelligence SaaS platform which uses AI to track, measure and analyse water consumption data, and uses to identify ways to reduce usage and wastage.
Problem they solve: The system is operating at 60+ industrial site—our clients include food processing plants, metals and mining sites, pharmaceutical factories and commercial buildings. Installing AquaGen takes only a few days and clients get detailed data and recommendations which can be used to meet statutory reporting requirements as well. We have helped clients save up to 30% of their water consumption, and we have a vision that companies will become water positive in the future. Our near-term goal is to help save 1 billion litres of water per day!
Stage: Undisclosed
To find more about its products and mission, see here.
#12. Infinity box
Founded: Bengaluru, Karnataka
Founder: Shashwat Gangwal
Elevator pitch: Infinity Box are reusable, recyclable, and better quality containers to fight against single use plastics.
Problem they solve: We replace 100 single use containers with one infinitybox. We offer a revolutionizing solution aimed towards creating a circular economy for reusable and recyclable environment-friendly food packaging containers.
Stage: Undisclosed
To find more about its products and mission, see here.
#13. Bambrew
Founded: 2021 – Bengaluru, Karnataka
Founder: Vaibhav Anant
Elevator pitch: Bambrew provides sustainable packaging solution through 100% handmade, reusable and the perfect natural substitute for plastic
Problem they solve: Did you know that a full 32% of the 78 million tons of plastic packaging produced annually is left to flow into our oceans; the equivalent of pouring one garbage truck of plastic into the ocean every minute!
Plastic is choking our oceans, lakes, and rivers and piling up on our land more rapidly than ever before. Single-use plastic straws form the biggest threat. Plus, they frequently do not make it to a landfill or are recycled.
What is so special about Bamboo? Well, apart from being the best substitute for endangered rainforest hardwoods that we are so accustomed to using, it is also a quick-growing and versatile forest product, outwitting all other tree species. It grows faster than any other plant, produces more than 35 percent more oxygen than hardwood trees, but most importantly, helps fight global climate change. Basically, bamboo is one of the most planet-friendly substances in existence.
Stage: Seed
To find more about its products and mission, see here.
#14. Envoprotect
Founded: 2019 – Pune, Maharashtra
Founder: Karishma Shah
Elevator pitch: We at envoPROTECT are India’s first waste to energy plant installed in paper mill premises working towards converting waste plastic to green energy.
Problem they solve: There is a growing environmental concern about waste plastic disposal. Almost one-third production of paper in India, approx. 5 million tonnes (out of total paper production of 15 million MT), is based on waste paper which invariably contains contrary materials like plastic, metal and residual fibre. Such mills generate large amount of solid waste (around 7-10% of their production capacity) which differs in their grades or types forming huge junk and nuisance for paper mills and environment.
Stage: Early-stage
To find more about its products and mission, see here.
Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use
#15. Tractor Junction
Founded: 2017 – Alwar, Rajasthan
Founders: Rajat Gupta and Animesh Agarwal
Elevator pitch: Tractor Junction is India’s No.1 Website for Tractors and Farm Implements. Tractor Junction lists over 300+ new tractors from across the brands. Pick any three of your interests and compare them here. Comparison gives a crystal clear distinction between the chosen three. Read expert opinions on why to select a particular model over others. Moreover, Tractor Junction connects to thousands of tractor dealers across India.
Problem they solve: Our mission is to bring joy and delight to tractor buying and ownership. To achieve this goal, we aim to empower Indian farmers to make informed tractor buying and ownership decisions with exhaustive and unbiased information on tractors through expert reviews, owner reviews, detailed specifications and comparisons. We understand that a tractor is one of the essential assets in a farmer’s life.
Stage: Seed
To find more about its products and mission, see here.
#16. Nurture.farm
Founded: 2020 – Bengaluru, Karnataka
Leadership: Dhruv Sawhney and Pranav Tiwari
Elevator pitch: nurture.farm is an open, digital platform for sustainable agriculture globally.
Problem they solve: In a typical farm, in one crop cycle, from pre-sowing to post-harvest, we make multiple interventions with solutions spanning practices, products and services.
We diagnose problems and potential threats and advise on what should be done. We handle the implementation and monitor as the solutions are implemented.
Stage: Undisclosed
To find more about its products and mission, see here.
Cross-cutting enablers
#17. Climes
Founded: 2021 – Remote across India
Founders: Siddhanth Jayaram and Anirudh Gupta
Elevator pitch: We built Climes with the singular objective to make it convenient for people and businesses to take climate action.
Problem they solve: We partner with consumer brands that want to go climate-friendly. Every time you order or buy something from them, you get to see emissions specific to your order. And you can choose to take climate action at checkout.
Stage: Seed
To find more about its products and mission, see here.
#18. Stepchange
Founded: 2022 – Bengaluru, Karnataka
Founders: Ankit Jain and Sidhant Pai
Elevator pitch: StepChange is a sustainability platform that helps people reduce their impact on the environment, through a series of personalised and effective steps.
Problem they solve: We partner with consumer brands that want to go climate-friendly. Every time you order or buy something from them, you get to see emissions specific to your order. And you can choose to take climate action at checkout.
Stage: Undisclosed
To find more about its products and mission, see here.
#19. Blue Sky Analytics
Founded: 2018 – Gurgaon, Haryana
Founders: Abhilasha Purwar and Kshitij Purwar
Elevator pitch: Blue Sky Analytics is a climate intelligence startup which uses satellite-derived climate intelligence to power financial decisions.
Problem they solve: Our satellite-derived intelligence can be leveraged for various use-cases in
1. Monitoring & measurement of physical climate risks of various assets: investment portfolio, real estate, loan portfolio, forestry bonds, etc as per TCFD framework
2. Calculating Climate VaR (Climate Value at Risk)
3. Stress Testing for various warming scenarios
We provide off-the-shelf and bespoke data solutions spanning flood, drought, wildfire, and heat risk for monitoring, measuring, and mitigating portfolio risk. In addition, we also provide asset-level emissions monitoring & measurements for ESG & activist investing.
Stage: Seed
To find more about its products and mission, see here.
#20. Dhruva
Founded: Gurugram, Haryana
Founders: Jagmohan Garg
Elevator pitch: Carbon management for medium to large businesses including measurement & tracking using SAAS tool and offsetting through our marketplace.
Problem they solve: We help businesses find the right projects for offset Climate Risk Mitigation by creating a robust SAAS platform that integrates with existing system & measures emissions without hassle.
Stage: Early-stage
To find more about its products and mission, see here.
Want a broader view?
Check out our deep dive into the climate tech in India with two local investors as your guide. They provide a look not only at what the hot sectors are right now, but also where things are moving, who the main players are, where the challenges are, and what untapped potential lies in the region.
How do these startups fit in with all the others we have looked at?
Check out our running list of the 250+ climate tech startups we have featured.
