Google-backed fund selects 4 Indian firms for AI-driven climate solutions

Four India-based organisations have been selected among 18 recipients across the Asia Pacific region for grants under the APAC Sustainability Seed Fund 2.0, supported by a $ 5-million grant from Google.org, the tech giant's philanthropic arm.

The fund, managed by Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN), aims to foster technology- and AI-driven solutions addressing critical environmental and social challenges.

The Indian recipients include INREM Foundation, CEPT Research and Development Foundation (CRDF), Institute for Financial Management and Research (WELL Labs), and Gujarat Mahila Housing Sewa Trust (MHT), Google.org said in a statement.

INREM Foundation will develop AI-enabled open digital solutions for community access to water contamination data. CRDF plans to use machine learning and satellite imagery to protect lakes and their carbon sink function. WELL Labs will develop advanced models for village-level water security insights, while MHT will create an AI-powered model to identify urban heat islands and suggest community-centric solutions, the statement added.

This initiative follows Google.org's previous $ 3 million grant to APAC Sustainability Seed Fund 1.0, which supported projects saving over 13 million tonnes of water and mitigating 3,700 tonnes of carbon emissions in India's agriculture sector.