Safearth, A Tech Platform for Renewable Energy Adoption, Gets ₹3.5 Crore in Funding Led by Anthill Ventures

The investment will fuel SafEarth's product development initiatives and support its expansion.

Gruhas ASPIRE Accelerator Program Plays Vital Role in SafEarth's Growth and Market Reach

SafEarth, India's largest technology platform for adoption of renewable energy has today announced the successful completion of its recent funding round of ₹ 3.5 Crore. The funding was led by Anthill Ventures, Third Derivative and Mumbai Angels. This investment will fuel SafEarth's product development initiatives and support its expansion into new industrial belts across the country.

SafEarth has distinguished itself by helping industries reduce their carbon emissions by shifting from thermal power to solar energy at scale. With over 100 completed industrial solar projects and a deployed capacity of 171MW, SafEarth has enabled the saving of over 300,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. Collaborating with renowned companies like Toyota Technopark, Everest Industries, Ather Energy, and Mondelez India, SafEarth has facilitated extraordinary savings of Rs 50 crore above industry averages during the transition to solar energy. Moreover, the platform has generated business worth over Rs 800 crores for solar installers.

SafEarth's marketplace streamlines clean energy procurement process for industries, reducing time by 50%, cost by 10%, and errors to zero, resulting in over 20% increased project returns. Then, their project management automation tool, Solar Flow, ensures efficient implementation and quality assurance. Furthermore, Solar Flow monitors electricity consumption in real-time, offering recommendations for reducing costs and achieving sustainable long-term savings. SafEarth's capabilities empower industries to embrace solar energy and drive environmental sustainability.

The company offers a comprehensive suite of products powered by their advanced tech stack. The platform uses data driven insights to map out an industry’s electricity consumption and design the perfect solar plant to optimise its energy usage. SafEarth then implements these projects through a network of pre-screened execution partners. Their Solar Flow tool ensures flawless execution of projects, resulting in a 0% failure rate and helping them exceed generation guarantees. SafEarth then monitors their client’s energy consumption in real time to enable continuous optimization, empowering businesses to achieve significant energy savings, reduce carbon emissions, and contribute to a sustainable future. SafEarth's innovative tech stack drives impactful solutions for a cleaner environment.

Harshit Poddar, Co-Founder, SafEarth emphasized the importance of their platform's effectiveness, which played a significant role in attracting investors. He stated, "Through our advanced tech stack and comprehensive suite of products, SafEarth is driving the transition to sustainable energy sources and helping industries reduce their carbon emissions at scale. The recent funding round not only validates our mission but also empowers us to accelerate product development and expand our reach to new industrial belts across India. Together, we can build a cleaner and more sustainable future."

Gruhas ASPIRE, a leading proptech accelerator led by Gruhas Fund, DLF Family Office, and Anthill Ventures have played a crucial role in SafEarth's journey. Through the accelerator program, SafEarth was able to access valuable resources, mentorship, and industry connections, accelerating its growth and market reach.

Sailesh Sigatapu, Partner, Anthill Ventures expressed his satisfaction with SafEarth's progress, stating, "We are delighted to congratulate SafEarth on their exceptional journey and to witness their tremendous growth and impact. SafEarth's selection as our first cohort of Gruhas ASPIRE program underscores the significance of our accelerator program in nurturing and supporting ground breaking startups. We are excited to witness SafEarth's continued success and are confident that their achievements will inspire and motivate future cohorts in the Gruhas ASPIRE program to create meaningful and sustainable change in the proptech landscape."

Nandini Mansinghka, CEO, Mumbai Angels said “With this funding round, SafEarth moves one step further into cementing its place as India’s largest tech platform for solar power adoption. We congratulate the dynamic team at SafEarth and hope that they continue the good work of helping industries to optimize energy consumption and transition to clean, renewable power.”

The recent funding round will propel SafEarth's product development and expand its reach among industries, accelerating their transition to sustainable energy sources. With its integrated platform for solar projects covering engineering, procurement, execution, and financing support, SafEarth has already gained a significant market share, securing 6.67% in the C&I Rooftop Solar space and 5% in India's overall distributed solar market. SafEarth's mid-term goal is to facilitate the reduction of one million tonnes of annual carbon emissions through over 1GW of solar projects in the next two years. This funding will play a crucial role in achieving this milestone and empowering industries to reduce one billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030.

Earlier in last week, New Delhi-based renewable energy transition platform Amp Energy India has secured up to $250 million (about ₹2,061 crore) from SMBC Bank of Japan (Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation), ICG (Intermediate Capital Group), and AIIB (Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank). 

About SafEarth

SafEarth is India's largest technology platform for adoption of solar power. The SafEarth platform brings together all stakeholder of the industry including buyers, system installers, solar component manufacturers and project financiers on one platform and ensures that they are able to deploy quality solar plants swiftly and profitably. By empowering industries to transition to renewable energy, SafEarth aims to reduce carbon emissions on a global scale while assisting solar installers in growing their businesses and decarbonizing the energy footprint.

About Anthill Ventures

Anthill Ventures is a global speed-scaling ecosystem that invests in early-stage companies. Their portfolio includes startups from a variety of industries, including proptech, healthtech, and media and entertainment. Anthill Ventures provides mentorship, access to global markets, and strategic partnerships to help startups scale rapidly.

About Mumbai Angels

Mumbai Angels, India’s premier platform for private investment that is now a part of 360 ONE (earlier known as IIFL Wealth & Asset Management), one of the leading wealth and alternates-focused asset firms in India, holds an AUM of USD 130 Mn and a 200+ strong portfolio spanning a wide range of sectors, such as Technology, Consumer, Life Sciences, DefenseTech, SpaceTech, EV, AgriTech, FinTech, EdTech, Gaming, and Content, etc. Of the overall portfolio, the platform has exited/secured the next round of funding for 100+ of them. The platform has 750+ investors spread across 70+ Global and Indian cities.

Renewable Energy Transition Platform Amp Energy India Raises ~$250 Mn in Funding from SMBC Bank of Japan, ICG, AIIB

New Delhi-based renewable energy transition platform Amp Energy India has secured up to $250 million (about ₹2,061 crore) from SMBC Bank of Japan (Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation), ICG (Intermediate Capital Group), and AIIB (Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank) announced the company in an official press release. 

Amp Energy India develops, builds, owns and operates renewable energy power plants delivering power to both C&I and Utility customers.

Prior to this fundraise, Amp Energy India has secured $50 million from global alternative asset manager ICG. It was ICG's first investment through its Asia-Pacific Infrastructure team.

Founded in 2016, Amp Energy India is India's first truly balanced Renewable Energy IPP (Independent Power Producer) with a total portfolio of 2.7GW+ spread across 17 states in the country. It provides renewable energy transition solutions to marquee customers across 10 diverse sectors such as Pharmaceuticals, Automobiles, Cement, Steel, Heavy Engineering, Infrastructure, FMCG, Educational Institutions, IT & Datacenters, Utilities, and Government bodies.

Pinaki Bhattacharyya, Founder, MD and CEO of Amp Energy India said, "With this round we are on our way to be the leading energy transition platform in the country and I thank our stellar team, supportive shareholders, the progressive government, customers, suppliers, lenders and intermediaries to reach this milestone. I welcome the three new marquee investors who have reposed their faith in us with their maiden investments to participate in the unstoppable energy transition journey in India".

In April, Amp Energy India's subsidiary, AMPIN Solar One, has won 1GW capacity for integrating cell and module manufacturing under Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI)’s performance-linked incentive (PLI) program Tranche II for integrating cell and module (CM) manufacturing. In January this year, Bosch India partnered Amp Energy India for its solar energy requirements in Karnataka. 

SMBC is a Japanese multinational banking and financial services institution headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The group operates in retail, corporate, and investment banking segments worldwide.

Rohit Nanda, Head of Equity Group – Infrastructure team, Asia at SMBC commented “Since our initial investment in 2018, Amp India has shown remarkable resilience and achieved an impressive growth even during the pandemic period. We see tremendous potential in their C&I expertise and march into the utility field and are excited to contribute to their continued success through this follow-on investment. We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Amp India and furtherly support their innovative work in the renewable energy sector."

ICG is a LSE-listed, leading global alternative asset manager with over 30 years’ history, managing USD 68.5 billion of assets and investing across the capital structure.

Devarshi Das, Head of Asia-Pacific Infrastructure at ICG commented “We are very pleased to announce our partnership with Amp India as the first investment for ICG’s Asia-Pacific Infrastructure. The rapidly growing demand for renewables and energy transition solutions throughout India presents an enormous opportunity in the market that we are well-positioned to capitalize on across the value chain. We believe strongly in the management team’s proven capabilities and are confident in the Company’s ability to execute on its growth strategy and scale effectively.”

Vizag Startup Geo Climate Receives An Offer for ₹2 Cr Funding from Gas Authority of India

Vizag, Andhra Pradesh-based startup, Geo Climate Risk Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (Geo Climate), has received an offer for funding of ₹2 crore from Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), India's largest state-owned natural gas marketer, reported The Hindu.

Geo Climate builds Environmental Risk Management Solutions using geospatial information, satellite remote sensing techniques, and Spatial Analytics for Humanitarian fields, Industry and communities. The startup is currently under incubation at the NASSCOM Warehouse at Innovation Valley and is recognized by government of India's 'Startup India'.

GAIL has recognized Geo Climate as a GAIL Pankh Emerging Startup. The Vizag (or Visakhapatnam ) startup will get a funding of ₹2 crore by GAIL, under the later's initiative called Pankh, which aims to nurture startup entrepreneurs and for same GAIL has set up a fund to the tune of $7.7 million.

Founded in 2014, by Prasad Babu, an IIT Kanpur alumnus, Geo Climate works towards finding sustainability solutions for environment, industries, location intelligence, artificial intelligence and machine learning, socio-economic and risk analytics.

Prasad Babu, who has worked with the UNDP, the United Nations' global development network, said “I started the venture with my savings, and now with GAIL funding, we are confident of scaling up soon. We have received an investment from GAIL to upscale our product which deals with sustainability solution. We also provide risk information and possible risk reduction and adaptation strategies through a location intelligence and spatial technologies platform,” he said.

Besides Geo Climate, GAIL ha earlier invested in Hungry Foal, a Gurugram based food-tech startup, in November 2017.

Last August, GAIL has sought shareholder approval to amend the company's charter to invest in startups in core business areas and non-core areas (like health, social and environment, safety, and security) either directly or indirectly.

Besides investing in startups, GAIL also sought approval to build solar power plants and set up battery charging stations for electric vehicles (EV) as it looks to diversify its portfolio beyond gas and petrochemicals.

Clean Energy Startup Avaada Raises $144 Mn from Asian Development Bank, Others

Delhi-based Avaada Energy Pvt Ltd, a clean & renewable energy startup, has raised $143.7 million/ ₹1,000 crore funding for financing its 2.4 GW renewable energy portfolio from multi-lateral agencies including Asian Development Bank, Germany’s Deutsche Entwicklungs- und Investitionsgesellschaft (DEG), Dutch development bank Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO).

The capital raised is meant for financing 2.4 GW capacities out of the targeted 5 GW by the company, which will facilitate Avaada's leadership role in India's transition to clean energy and contribution in achieving India's vision of 100 GW of solar energy by 2022, the release said.

Avvada was founded in 2009 by serial entrepreneur Vineet Mittal, who had sold his previous venture, Welspun Energy, to Tata Power for $1.4 billion.

Speaking on recent funding, Mittal, chairman of Avaada Group said, "We are harnessing the power of the sun to ensure sustainable world for future generations. We are targeting an extensive portfolio of 5 GW solar energy projects across Asia and Africa."

Avaada is a leading developer of renewable energy projects with a 5 GW project pipeline across emerging African & Asian countries. Over the next 5 years, the company aims to develop a diversified portfolio of utility scale solar & wind projects, solar rooftop and EPC business.

According to Mercom India's Research report, the total power capacity additions in India were 16.3 GW in 2018 from all generation sources. Of this, renewable energy sources accounted for nearly 70% of installations, with solar representing 50.7% of new capacity and wind with 14%.

To recall, in December last year, Jaipur-based solar power developer and EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) player, Rays Power Infra had raised Rs 200 crore in mix of debt and equity funding from DMI Finance (DMI), a New Delhi-based Non-Bank Finance Company.

Prior to that, in October, India’s largest independent solar power producers Azure Power had raised around $185 million from Canada's CDPQ, a Quebec, Canada-based institutional investor.

In November 2015, India had initiated International Solar alliance, a congregation of 122 sunshine countries, which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, and now extended to all members of the United Nations. The primary objective of the alliance is to work for efficient exploitation of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Source - LiveMint, Via ~ Xinhuanet.com

India's Largest Clean Energy Startup ReNew Power Raises $375 Mn Via Green Bond Issue

India’s largest independent power generation company in the renewable energy sector, ReNew Power Limited, has raised yet another round of funding from international investors as it continues to aggressively push to expand its project pipeline.

ReNew Power Thursday has concluded a green bond issue of US$375 million ( ~ ₹ 2580 Crores ), which would be used for capital expenditure on green projects and refinancing external commercial borrowings.

Green Bonds are debt instruments that allow investors to invest in sustainable projects while offering issuers affordable funding to finance these projects.

Like all bonds, green bobds are loans from investors to issuers, with interest paid to bond owners for a given period before the principal is repaid.

The capital raised through the green bond issue will be utilised for refinancing outstanding external commercial borrowings and as capex in eligible green projects.

Barclays (B&D), Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan and YES Bank were the book runners for the green bond issue.

The dollar-denominated bonds received excellent response and were fully subscribed by leading fund managers, asset managers, banks and pension and life funds from across the US, Europe and Asia, the company said.

The issue was opened for subscription on March 5 and closed on the same day.

"Our history of financial prudence, investing in high-quality assets and creating value for all our stakeholders has enabled us to regularly raise funds to fuel our rapid growth. We are happy that our bond offering received such an enthusiastic response, especially when the renewables sector is facing challenges in raising capital," ReNew Power Chairman and Managing Director Sumant Sinha said in the statement.

"The renewables market in India is firmly established and is growing rapidly. ReNew Power is India's largest IPP with more than 7,000 MW of commissioned and under-construction wind and solar projects," he said.

ReNew Power Deputy Chief Financial Officer Kailash Vaswani said: "The bond issue was in line with our strategy of diversifying debt sources. The issuance enabled us to fix our interest rate risk and achieve a lower pricing than existing borrowing costs. The international bond investors have seen us deliver on committed performance and, hence, have come forward to invest in our new issuance.

Founded in 2011, by Suman Sinha, ReNew Power has raised a total of $2B in funding over nine rounds. 

To recall, a year back ReNew Power had acquired of Ostro Energy Private Limited to create the country’s largest clean energy firm by installed capacity.

Source - Renew Power - Press Release

Clean Energy Startup Renew Power Acquires Ostro Energy in Biggest Renewable Energy Deal

Gurgaon headquartered clean energy company ReNew Power today announced the acquisition of Ostro Energy Private Limited to create the country’s largest clean energy firm by installed capacity.

The acquisition is also touted as biggest ever deal in the Indian renewable energy sector, ReNew Power will spend Rs10,200 crore (approximately $1.5 billion) for the acquisition, backed by Rs1,643 crore ($247 million) from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).

This strategic investment helps ReNew Power further consolidate its position in the fast-growing, Indian clean energy sector. ReNew Power currently has green energy assets of more than 4500 MW, which include a commissioned capacity of approximately 2800 MW. Ostro Energy has a total capacity of more than 1100 MW, out of which nearly 850 MW is already commissioned. With the acquisition of these assets, ReNew Power’s capacity will now exceed 5600 MW. Over 65% of the combined portfolio capacity (ReNew Power and Ostro Energy) is already operational.

ReNew Power’s growth has been mostly organic till now and it has grown into one of the leading energy companies in India in a span of seven years. This is the largest acquisition for the company till date and reinforces its already strong position in the Indian market.

The addition of the Ostro team and assets to the ReNew family will further strengthen the company’s vision of contributing to the Government of India’s 2022 goal of 175 GW of renewable energy, said the company in a press release. Ostro has built an impressive business with diversified geographical spread; good quality infrastructure; and stable long term PPAs.

Delhi-based Ostro Energy’s assets are spread across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. The Ostro portfolio is also diversified by off takers and also by OEMs, further complementing the ReNew Power portfolio.

Concurrent with this transaction, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is investing an additional US$247 million to support ReNew Power’s financing for this acquisition. As a result, the CPPIB’s combined investment in ReNew Power now stands at US$391 million, following an earlier investment of US$ 144 million in January 2018.

Founded in 2011 by Sumant Sinha -- an Ex-COO at Suzlon Energy, Renew Power is backed by investors such as Goldman Sachs, Asian Development Bank, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Global Environment Fund and Japan’s JERA Co. Inc. In February 2017, Japan’s JERA Co. Inc. bought a 10% stake in ReNew Power, valuing the company at $2 billion. Last year, Renew Power was among 10 most funded startups in India.

The above development was first reported in Qz.com

Startup activities in clean energy segment -

This February, Tata Trusts’ Foundation for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (FISE) has announced the “Social Alpha Energy Challenge” to discover next-gen technology innovations that promise to unlock new solutions to India’s energy challenges or make existing energy networks smarter, cleaner and more affordable. In the same month, three Indian startups won top awards at Global Cleantech Innovation Award.

Last June, Carbon Masters, a Bangalore based energy startup raised an undisclosed amount from Indian Angel Network and Sangam Ventures, a pure play clean tech venture fund. Later in July, solar startup CleanMax Solar raised $100 million from an affiliate of Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm focused on growth investing.

Clean Energy Startup Renew Power Acquires Ostro Energy in Biggest Renewable Energy Deal

Gurgaon headquartered clean energy company ReNew Power today announced the acquisition of Ostro Energy Private Limited to create the country’s largest clean energy firm by installed capacity.

The acquisition is also touted as biggest ever deal in the Indian renewable energy sector, ReNew Power will spend Rs10,200 crore (approximately $1.5 billion) for the acquisition, backed by Rs1,643 crore ($247 million) from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).

This strategic investment helps ReNew Power further consolidate its position in the fast-growing, Indian clean energy sector. ReNew Power currently has green energy assets of more than 4500 MW, which include a commissioned capacity of approximately 2800 MW. Ostro Energy has a total capacity of more than 1100 MW, out of which nearly 850 MW is already commissioned. With the acquisition of these assets, ReNew Power’s capacity will now exceed 5600 MW. Over 65% of the combined portfolio capacity (ReNew Power and Ostro Energy) is already operational.

ReNew Power’s growth has been mostly organic till now and it has grown into one of the leading energy companies in India in a span of seven years. This is the largest acquisition for the company till date and reinforces its already strong position in the Indian market.

The addition of the Ostro team and assets to the ReNew family will further strengthen the company’s vision of contributing to the Government of India’s 2022 goal of 175 GW of renewable energy, said the company in a press release. Ostro has built an impressive business with diversified geographical spread; good quality infrastructure; and stable long term PPAs.

Delhi-based Ostro Energy’s assets are spread across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. The Ostro portfolio is also diversified by off takers and also by OEMs, further complementing the ReNew Power portfolio.

Concurrent with this transaction, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is investing an additional US$247 million to support ReNew Power’s financing for this acquisition. As a result, the CPPIB’s combined investment in ReNew Power now stands at US$391 million, following an earlier investment of US$ 144 million in January 2018.

Founded in 2011 by Sumant Sinha -- an Ex-COO at Suzlon Energy, Renew Power is backed by investors such as Goldman Sachs, Asian Development Bank, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Global Environment Fund and Japan’s JERA Co. Inc. In February 2017, Japan’s JERA Co. Inc. bought a 10% stake in ReNew Power, valuing the company at $2 billion. Last year, Renew Power was among 10 most funded startups in India.

The above development was first reported in Qz.com

Startup activities in clean energy segment -

This February, Tata Trusts’ Foundation for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (FISE) has announced the “Social Alpha Energy Challenge” to discover next-gen technology innovations that promise to unlock new solutions to India’s energy challenges or make existing energy networks smarter, cleaner and more affordable. In the same month, three Indian startups won top awards at Global Cleantech Innovation Award.

Last June, Carbon Masters, a Bangalore based energy startup raised an undisclosed amount from Indian Angel Network and Sangam Ventures, a pure play clean tech venture fund. Later in July, solar startup CleanMax Solar raised $100 million from an affiliate of Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm focused on growth investing.