Lets talk about ClimAct!

(ClimAct by Merak X Huddle)

Nov 18, 2022

India is acutely vulnerable to the climate change crisis. The ecosystem is struggling with low financing options, given the high presence of utility-scale project initiatives, barring any significant private institution capital infusion into early-stage (Pre-Seed/Seed) climate tech startups. On the other hand, while innovation today in early-stage climate tech startups is highly encouraging, access to capital alone is insufficient to make meaningful gains for all relevant stakeholders.

Huddle, in partnership with Merak Ventures, is delighted to announce the launch of ClimAct: A ClimateTech Accelerator Program to help India achieve its climate goals

Program Highlights:

Access to Capital: Access to upfront Pre-Seed capital of $200k per startup, with further potential for follow-on investment of up to $1.5M within 4 months
Pilot and POC opportunities with relevant entities
- Large institutional entities that have pledged to fight climate change
- Infrastructure partners supporting climate action through UN Sustainable Development Goals
Access to a community of Industry Veterans who will play the role of formally engaged Mentors
Access to Industry credits of up to $500k via contextual technology and business partners.

Apply to ClimAct

Our Thesis Areas:

(Few use cases out of the overall sectors are mentioned below)

AGRICULTURE

Wastage and Efficiency

Agriculture has vast potential with respect to climate change. Building agri-food supply chain efficiencies will be very important to reduce post-harvest food losses. Hence, solutions that use technology to reduce food losses from farm-to-folk or provide cold-chain infra would be relevant to consider.

Additionally, precision agriculture will be crucial to increasing farm yields, but the sector is vast ranging from farm advisory to Agri inputs to IoTs and deep tech hardware solutions. Hence, we will opportunistically look at this theme to scout good startups.

MOBILITY & TRANSPORT

Energy Storage and Charging Solutions

Energy storage and management for mobility & transport use cases have observed strong investor traction historically, and we believe this trend will continue in the next 3-5 years. This includes Electric vehicles as a category.

CLIMATE FINANCE

Given the large depth in climate finance required, emerging forms of climate finance will be important for us to consider. For example, Refi (Regenerative Finance) is a movement focusing on the power of blockchain and web3 to address climate change, support conservation and biodiversity, and create a more equitable and sustainable financial system.

CARBON

Carbon Accounting and Carbon Sequestration

Carbon (Dioxide) is one of the building blocks of all organisms on Earth, such that it allows Earth to hold its energy. Carbon Sequestration is the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide. It is one method of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere with the goal of reducing global climate change.

There has been growth in startups working on carbon capture/tech sequestration that capture CO2/ GHGs and utilize them to create value-added products and/ or sell offsets on exchanges.

DIGITAL SOLUTIONS

SaaS, Education, and ESG Compliance

Recent developments such as the SEBI Circular surrounding revamped ESG and Sustainability reporting are a welcome addition, encouraging large-scale enterprises to adopt tech solutions that aid in carbon reduction, ESG compliance, and Climate Education.

Apply Now

Ecosystem Synergies with Fund Partners:

Climate Tech requires a concerted effort from the VC/PE ecosystem to build scalable, venture-backed companies. Given its evolution, Climate Tech is approaching its inflection point, proving a fit for early-stage capital infusion.

We’re thrilled to Partner with Funds such as Accel, Aavishkaar Capital, Lok Capital, Matrix Partners, Nexus, Sequoia, and Stellaris.