Anjali Bansal and Swapna Gupta spent 3rd-7th December at COP28, UAE, engaging in a variety of panels, discussions, and mixers. COP28 was a unique opportunity for a “Global Stocktake” of progress since the 2015 Paris Agreement, making it a unique and insightful event in multiple ways. From engaging discussions on climate resilience to collaborative initiatives shaping India’s sustainable future, each day unfolded with a tapestry of ideas and commitments. 

For the first time at COP, there was a Startup Pavilion where global funds like Breakthrough Energy had booths to showcase some of their portfolio companies. The idea that “technologies of the past cannot solve for tomorrow” was a key theme of this booth, emphasising the need to make focussed bets on technologies that will shape the future. It also became abundantly clear that the private sector will need to engage with regulators and governments to unlock investment and find innovative instruments to ensure that capital is allocated across various stakeholders solving for climate. One example of this is the creation of ALTERRA, a $30 billion fund for global climate solutions, out of which $6.5 billion has been allocated to climate-dedicated funds for global investments.

.

Anjali Bansal delivered a keynote address at TechSparks Delhi ’23. Speaking on the topic ‘Investing in a Net-Zero Future’, she discussed innovations in India’s climatetech sector. YourStory Media TechSparks is a prestigious and impactful annual event that brings together leading tech entrepreneurs, innovators, investors, and industry experts to celebrate India’s vibrant startup ecosystem. With inspiring talks, engaging panel discussions, and networking opportunities, Techsparks serves as a platform for thought-provoking discussions on cutting-edge technologies, trends, and the future of entrepreneurship in India. This year, the theme for TechSparks Delhi was ‘Powering India’s Digital Transformation in the Heart of Tech’.

“Climate action and sustainability is the biggest transition the world will undergo, posing both a problem as well as a big opportunity for investing in innovation. Our focus on solutions for energy and resource management, mobility and supply chains, and sustainable agriculture and food systems, aims to solve for climate action and create the next big investment frontier,” says Anjali Bansal.

Anjali Bansal spoke on a panel on ‘Sustainability and long-term Business value: Improving the topline’, at the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Annual Sustainability Conclave. This event, themed ‘Sustainability for Growth & Value Creation’ featured a series of insightful keynote addresses and panels with industry leaders and experts.

Anjali Bansal shared her perspective on the intersection of climate, technology, innovation and investments that can shape the future of urban development at the GSG Global Impact Summit 2023, ‘Innovate, Scale, Impact’ . The Summit was organised in Malaga, Spain by The Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG) in partnership with SpainNAB.

She participated in a breakout session ‘Masterclass: Mobilising Impact Capital for Sustainable Cities and Inclusive Urban Development’ alongside Iker Marcaide of Zubi Group, Jaime Gómez-Llera of Primero H, Roland Pearson of Habitat for Humanity International, and Sebastián Welisiejko of GSG.

“India and the rest of the developing world will have to continue to drive urbanisation and industrialisation for growth, while decarbonizing major sectors of the economy such as industry, mobility and energy”, says Anjali Bansal.

Anjali Bansal and Riddhi Vora of Avaana Climate and Sustainability Fund spoke at Prabhav 2022 organised by Impact Investors Council (IIC).

Anjali Bansal spoke at a plenary session, joined by Nishith Desai of Nishith Desai Associates, Gaurav Kapoor, Head-Investments, British Government-FCDO and Karanraj Chaudri of UNDP. She said “We have the opportunity in India to create technology-led solutions for climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience, not just for India but also for the world.”

Riddhi Vora said “Capital goes where entrepreneurs are going, and increasingly entrepreneurs are veering towards climate. In addition to capital, early stage climate-tech start-ups need access to an entire ecosystem support to scale, and at Avaana, we bring together partnerships across digital innovation, industry linkages, policy & academia and catalytic capital for start-ups to scale.”

“Climate is coming of age. It’s never been a better time to invest in India,” said Anjali Bansal at the Climate Tech Convening: India 2022 jointly hosted by Environmental Defense Fund and FICCI.

Enterprises are looking to solve underlying problems to achieve their net-zero targets, as they recognize that sustainability is more than CSR. CSR is 2% of the profits while sustainability is 100% of the revenue opportunity. Governments around the world have committed to net-zero targets. Consumers, too, want sustainable solutions, as long as they are affordable. 

Innovative solutions for climate and sustainability will come from the technology and innovation ecosystem. 

Watch the session recording here

Avaana Capital, in collaboration with Open Network For Digital Commerce (ONDC), organized a session on the transformation of digital commerce propelled by ONDC, along with a broader discussion on public digital infrastructure in India and the new opportunities for start-ups to build upon these digital rails.
The architects behind ONDC, India Stack and Beckn, T Koshy, Pramod Varma, Sujith Nair, along with Anjali Bansal and Anil Agrawal discussed India’s decentralised digital economy, and the transformational changes that lie ahead.
Speaking on the scope of ONDC, Anjali Bansal said “ONDC has a wide scope for MSME to MSME trade in addition to small sellers and retailers. There is a lot of excitement in the agricultural ecosystem as well, particularly the FPOs and artisan groups. One of the first non-consumer clusters that ONDC will start working with is NABARD while SIDBI is also associating with some of their MSME clusters”

Watch the session recording here

Anjali Bansal, Founder, Avaana Capital was the keynote speaker on “Innovation and the Path to Net Zero” at the global Energy Tech Summit hosted by Contrarian Ventures.

“When tech-led innovation is applied to large scale problems, it helps to address difficult trade-offs on cost, time, and choices, and unlock exponential scale. Climate is the next frontier and the path to net zero will take us through mitigation, adaptation and resilience.”

Avaana was delighted to be a part of the first-ever “Startup India Innovation Week“, organized by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, from 10th – 16th January 2022.

Anjali Bansal took part in a closed-door VC roundtable with Shri Piyush Goyal for mobilizing capital for Indian startups and promoting ease of doing business for venture funds.

Anjali also moderated an ONDC panel discussion on “The Changing Landscape of Digital Commerce and the Role of Startup Ecosystem”, featuring Kumar Vembu (GOFRUGAL Technologies Pvt Ltd), Kumar Rajagopalan (Retailers Association of India), Nupur Goenka (Tally Solutions Pvt Ltd), Sameer Nigam (PhonePe) and Madhur Deora (Paytm).

Avaana participated in Infinity Forum, International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA)’s flagship fintech and global thought leadership event, which took place on the 3rd and 4th of December, 2021.

Anjali Bansal, Founder, Avaana Capital, moderated a conversation with Mr. Mukesh Ambani Reliance Industries Chairman & MD on “Digital Nation – The Infrastructure of Tomorrow: A Corporate Perspective”, and was part of a panel discussion on “Big Opportunities in FinTechs – An Investor’s Perspective”.