Climate-smart solutions company Ecozen raises $25 mn

Ecozen, a climate-smart deep-tech solutions company, has raised $25 million of combined equity and debt capital. The Series C equity portion was led by Nuveen and Dare Ventures (Coromandel International), with participation from Export-Import Bank of India, and existing investors Caspian and Hivos-Triodos Fund (managed by Triodos Investment Management). Omnivore and IFA, early investors in Ecozen, achieved partial exits in this round.

The debt portion was provided by Maanaveeya Development and Finance, Oxyzo, Northern Arc group, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank.

Founded by three IIT-Kharagpur alumni — Devendra Gupta, Prateek Singhal and Vivek Pandey — Ecozen is headquartered in Pune.

A press statement said that Ecozen develops climate-smart deep-tech solutions for motor controls, IoT, and energy storage.

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Ecozen will leverage Nuveen’s experience in scaling impact-oriented businesses to augment its commercial offering, and the funding from India Exim Bank will support the company towards its export-related activities, it said.

The company is also looking beyond the agricultural sector to accelerate broader energy transition through its deep-tech expertise in energy storage, motor controls, IoT and analytics. The company estimates the market size for its innovative technology stacks in India to grow to $25 billion by 2025, the statement said.

Quoting Devendra Gupta, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder at Ecozen, the statement said: “We are thrilled to successfully close this round and are excited to bring Nuveen, India Exim Bank, as well as other new investors on board. As we expand beyond India and agriculture, we will continue to focus on profitable growth and sustainable technology solutions. Ecozen will aggressively expand production capacity and product range.”

Rekha Unnithan, Managing Director and co-Head of private equity impact investing at Nuveen, said Nuveen seeks out companies that mitigate climate change, build resilience to its impacts, and provide high-quality, affordable products and services to the low-income consumer segment. “With Ecozen’s proven expertise in delivering climate-smart technology solutions, while maintaining profitability, together we will exponentially grow their impact globally and beyond agriculture,” she said.

Harsha Bangari, Managing Director of Export-Import Bank of India, said India Exim Bank through its ‘Ubharte Sitaare’ programme identifies Indian companies that are future champions with good export potential. Ecozen, with its innovative clean technology solutions, has potential in international markets. The support from India Exim Bank will boost the company’s efforts to enhance its export capabilities and explore additional business opportunities overseas, Bangari said.

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