The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, hosted The Climate Conference 2024 in partnership with Avaana Climate and Sustainability Fund. This conference entailed 4 keynote addresses by eminent speakers, namely Mr. Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa, Mr. Nadir Godrej, Chairman and MD of Godrej Industries, Shri K Rajaraman, Chairman of IFSCA, and Mr. Mike Hankey, US Consul General. The conference also included three insightful plenary discussions on the topics “Financing the Green Transition”, “India’s Road to Net Zero”, and “Technology and Innovation for Climate Action” with a plenary startup showcase.

Read more about the conference here.

Anjali Bansal discussed Avaana Capital‘s investment strategy, portfolio, and the global climate-tech landscape, in an interview with businessline. The article, titled ‘Twinning Climate Tech with Profits’, provided insights into the gaps and opportunities in the Indian climate tech sector today.

“In climate technology, mainstream sectors like renewable energy attract capital, and investor education is crucial for new areas of innovation”, says Anjali Bansal.

Click here to read the entire article.

Anjali Bansal presented valuable insights at the ‘National Workshop: Advancing the Sustainable Finance Agenda,’ a pivotal G20 event dedicated to implementing recommendations from the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group in India. In a dynamic working session on ‘Mechanisms for Mobilisation of Financial Resources for Climate Finance,’ she discussed methods to increase private investment for climate action in developing countries. The session focused on interventions to amplify mechanisms and instruments for scaling up climate finance in India, entailing critical and actionable insights.

Anjali Bansal and Swapna Gupta were invited to speak at the M. S. Chadha Center for Global India, Princeton University. Exploring the topic “Scaling Up Climate Technologies in India and the Global South; Innovations in Venture Capital”, they had a full-house session which was attended by graduate students, post-doc students, as well as faculty. They discussed climate innovation in the Global South and the role that Avaana plays in driving the India climate-tech ecosystem. The talk ended with an interactive discussion with Professor Anu Ramaswami, Chris Greig of Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment and Elie Bou-Zeid. They also conducted sessions with Net Zero Lab and Urban Nexus Lab at the Keller Center, Princeton.

“Innovations in India need to be thought about at scale, to create large outcomes. At Avaana Capital, we invest in companies that use technology as a moat. Anything at scale, in a country like India, cannot be solved without the help of technology. Innovations for the next 20 years will come from the start-up ecosystem” says Swapna Gupta in talks with Ashu Agarwal, AsiaTechJournal.

Watch the full recording here.

Anjali Bansal writes for LiveMint on how climate-tech investments are key to unlocking a sustainable, green future, “Climate-tech in India is emerging as an exciting investment opportunity; a confluence of smart capital, conducive policy, discerning consumers and cost-effective technology have brought the sector to the forefront.

The scope for climate-tech is far-ranging and wide. Immediate investments in climate-tech solutions across the board will initiate the transition towards planet positivity, and meet Panchamrita goals.

India’s rapidly growing entrepreneurial ecosystem is leveraging tech-led innovations for climate solutions and sustainability which give outsized returns” 

Read the full article here.

“Avaana’s portfolio companies are employing an innovation-led approach to create smart solutions,” says Swapna Gupta, Partner, Avaana Capital in an interaction with Sudhir Chowdhary of Financial Express.

They speak about how our portfolio companies, including Eeki Foods, Praan, FarMart and Turno are working to create tech-led solutions for mitigation (to reduce emissions and limit global warming), adaptation (to respond and adjust to climate impacts) as well as resilience (climate-proofing economic and social systems).

Read more here on how, through our fund strategy, we are able to create sustainable development outcomes and combat climate change, while generating commercial gains.

Anjali Bansal and Shruti Srivastava write for BW Businessworld, discussing how the ‘new climate economy’ is seeing a new set of innovative business models and entrepreneurs emerge who are determined to solve deeper challenges in climate and sustainability. The case for investing in sustainability has never been stronger.

India’s transition for sustainability is complex as we cannot afford a trade-off between people, profits and planet. We need to continue to grow manufacturing, farm incomes, domestic consumption and bring critical goods and services to Indian masses, without creating further adverse impact on climate. This requires massive innovation in technologies and business models across the economy, ranging from how we grow our food to how we move people and goods.

Corporations and capital are committing towards ‘net zero’ not as an obligation, but by recognizing the business risk from climate change.

Read the full article here

Avaana co-hosted an evening on Responsible Innovation and Investing, alongwith General Catalyst. We started the evening with Uday Kotak sharing his journey of responsible innovation, followed by a conversation with Anjali Bansal and Hemant Taneja, moderated by Cyril Shroff, which brought out some thought-provoking insights. 
We were enthused to see young entrepreneurs come together with industry veterans for a topic that is increasingly relevant in the our current context.

Shruti Srivastava, Principal, Avaana Capital spoke with The Financial Express on Avaana Climate and Sustainability Fund. 

“Addressing climate change would need massive innovation in re-design and re-engineering across all segments of the economy to ensure we are not trading off people, planet and profits. We expect several large companies to emerge in line with this theme”

Read the full interview here: