Accelerating climate
The Challenge
India, like many other nations, is grappling with an urgent need to address the climate crisis. Our country’s annual contribution to global carbon emissions is projected to rise by 4.6% and experts foresee the demand for water outpacing the supply by 40% by 2030.
8.2% Of global carbon emissions annually are contributed by India
54% Of India is facing high to extremely high water stress
The need of the hour is to nurture and scale innovations that can enable progress on our climate goals and help create a cleaner and greener environment.
54%
Of India is facing high to extremely-high water stress
70%
Of the most polluted cities in the world are in India
29%
Of India’s landmass is under irreversible degradation
50%
Of global sanitation losses are attributed to India
The need of the hour is to nurture innovations that can accelerate progress on our climate goals and help create a cleaner and greener environment.
Our Thesis
ACT For Environment aims to catalyze climate action through tech-first innovations to accelerate India’s progress on decarbonisation and ensure water security.
The 50 Cr fund will seed the capabilities of ‘new and novel’ innovations that have the potential to create outsized climate impact as well as accelerate the progress of validated ‘here and now’ innovations that have a measurable environmental benefit.
Air Quality
Reduce air pollution at source or enable direct carbon capture through technology or process.
Water Security
Improve overall water security by reducing water waste and increasing water savings.
Waste Management
Enable circularity by reducing waste, turning waste to value and increasing resource efficiency.
Land Rejuvenation
Rejuvenate soil health and enable soil sequestration of carbon across agriculture, forestry and urban landscapes.
Energy Transition
Drive energy transition, efficiency, and access through alternative fuels, innovative battery chemistries, and distributed renewable energy solutions.
Our Portfolio
Our Expert Advisors
Vinay Luthra
Karnataka Forest Department
Dr. Ruchika Singh
World Resources Institute India
Shloka Nath
India Climate Collaborative
Vivek Adhia
Boston Consulting Group
Jayamala Subramaniam
Arghyam
Prashanth Venkatesh
Unilever
Mridula Ramesh
Sundaram Climate Institute
What Are We Looking For
If you’re a social entrepreneur building an innovative tech-first climate impact solution, we want to hear from YOU!
Here is a quick checklist that’ll help you understand what we’re looking for and whether your product / solution would be eligible to be evaluated for a grant:
Tech-First:
Should have tech-led innovation as a core element of the product, process or business model.-
Addresses Issue At Source:
Should solve for the cause instead of being built to address the resulting symptom. For example, air purifiers will not fall under our investment thesis. -
Evidence Of Environmental Impact
Should have demonstrated potential for climate impact at scale from a decarbonisation and/or water security lens. -
Roadmap To Sustainability
Should have a clear rationale for catalytic funding and a roadmap to grow sustainably beyond ACT’s support.
We do not look at funding large scale renewable energy projects, EV MaaS / OEMs / financing / charging infra and waste management logistics / traceability as they’re already in the advanced stages of market validation. We also actively screen out solutions that may contribute to greenwashing or have an indirect negative environmental impact.
ACT Capital Foundation For Social Impact is a not-for-profit company incorporated and registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013. All donations made to ACT Capital Foundation are eligible for income tax deduction under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act.
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