India ranks ninth in the global race for climate tech investments: Report

By Ranjani Raghavan

  • 26 Oct 2021

Indian climate tech firms have received $1 billion in venture capital funding from 2016 to date in 2021, a report released by London & Partners and Dealroom.co said, ahead of the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference.  

In fact, India ranks ninth in the list of top ten countries for climate tech investments since 2016, when the Paris Agreement was signed.  

The bulk of the investments have gone to US and UK firms.  

Nearly $48 billion worth of investments into climate tech firms went to US firms between 2016 and 2021 to date. China received $18.6 billion worth of investments in this segment in the same duration.  

Other countries ahead of India include Sweden ($5.8 billion), UK ($4.3 billion), France ($3.7 billion), Germany ($2.7 billion), Canada ($1.4 billion), and Netherlands ($1.3 billion).  

Singapore received investments worth $700 million in this duration.  

“Countries around the world need to work together so that we can collectively change business practices and commit to net zero emissions. The global tech industry plays a pivotal role in accelerating this global transformation and this is demonstrated in the rapid growth of VC investment into global climate tech companies,” Hemin Bharucha, country director, India, London & Partners, said. 

The report says that annual VC investments in global climate tech firms stands at $32.3 billion in 2021 to date, a fivefold increase from $6.6 billion in 2016.  

2021 investment levels have already exceeded the whole of 2020 for global climate tech investment, the report said.  

The report pegged Europe as the fastest-growing region globally for climate tech, with European VC investment into climate tech firms seven times higher this year than in 2016 (up from $1.1 billion in 2016 to $8 billion in 2021 YTD).  

In Europe, London startups have raised $3.3 billion since 2016, and account for 16% of Europe’s total investment.   London has over 416 climate tech companies, the report said.  

In a recent investment in this space in India, UK development finance institution CDC invested $70 million intoGreen Growth Equity Fund (GGEF), a fund managed byEverSourceCapital for climate change.