Indian clean technology businesses are finally catching the attention of investor community. New Ventures India - founded by World Resources Institute and CII-Godrej Green Business Centre - aims to fund 50 entrepreneurs in this segment by 2010 with a target investment of $250 million (around Rs 1,200 crore).
In the last two years, NVI has supported and mentored 20 firms in clean tech, off which nine have got funds worth $20 million. The forum, which has 17 member investor team is also planning to increase the investment to 40-50 firms in the next few years. Some of the investors include Nexus India Capital Advisors, Sequoia Capital India Advisors, and Acumen Fund.
"These funding have been in the form of equity participation as well as loan. The biggest change that we have seen is that till 2006 investing in clean tech firms was considered to be philanthropy. But now we see the interest in terms of a business module," said S Raghupathy, Senior Director and Head- GBC, CII.
Another example is that of ICICI Bank. Sanjeev Mantri, general manager, ICICI Bank said the bank has funded 15 small and medium enterprises till now in renewable energy segment and is actively looking for financing firms in the carbon credit sector.
Dr Saurabh Srivastava, chairman, Indian Venture Capital Association and NVI Coaches Network, said, "The commercial investment in clean tech sector has gone up. Moreover, in the last 6-9 months the number of idea that we have received is amazing. But unlike the US where the Angel investor community is strong and is available for mentoring and advice, the same is not happening in India."
