Climate technology platform Ecozen raises $25 million to go beyond agriculture

Pune based climate tech startup Ecozen raised $25 million in equity and debt in its Series C round on Tuesday as it looks beyond agriculture to expand globally into new deep-tech fields.

The platform estimated that the market size for its sustainability-focused technology stacks in India will grow to $25 billion by 2025.

The Series C share portion was led by Nuveen and Dare Ventures (Coromandel International), with the participation of the Export-Import Bank of India (India EXIM Bank), and existing investors Caspian and Hivos-Triodos Fund (managed by Triodos Investment Management).

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

The company has helped generate more than 1 billion units of clean energy (kWh), save more than 20,000 tons of food waste and reduce more than 1 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

“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,” said Devendra Gupta, CEO and co-founder of Ecozen.

Ecozen said it has revolutionized the cold chains (through its Ecofrost product line) and the irrigation industry (through its Ecotron product line), improving the incomes of 120,000 farmers and helping decarbonise agriculture.

It will now use Nuveen’s experience in scaling impact-focused businesses to augment its commercial offerings, and funding from India Exim Bank will support the company in its export-related business.

The company is looking beyond the agricultural sector to accelerate the broader energy transition through its deep technical expertise in energy storage, motor controls, IoT and analytics.

“With Ecozen’s proven expertise in delivering climate-smart technology solutions, while maintaining profitability, together we will exponentially increase their impact globally and beyond agriculture,” said Rekha UnnithanManaging Director and Co-Head of Private Equity Impact Investing at Nuveen.

Harsha Bangari, managing director of the Export-Import Bank of India, said Ecozen, with its innovative clean technology solutions, has potential in international markets.

ALSO SEE:
JSW Steel arm strikes deal to buy 31 pc stake in startup Ayena
5G network could be misused for drug trafficking, money laundering, terrorism financing: papers submitted to DGPs meeting