Green Frontier Capital to invest Rs 100 cr in climate-tech firms this year

Founder Sandiip Bhammer says the climate tech-focused VC firm only invests in companies that address three 'D's: decarbonisation, digitisation, and disruption

Green Frontier Capital, India’s first climate tech-focused venture capital firm, is ramping up its investments to drive the country’s low-carbon transition. In an interview with Udisha Srivastav, founder & co-managing partner, Sandiip Bhammer, shared insights into the firm’s investment strategy, key focus areas for 2025, and plans for deploying a Rs 1,500 crore corpus under its newly launched SEBI-approved Category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), the Green Frontier Capital India Climate Opportunities Fund.

 

What are the number of companies you have invested in till now? 

We only invest in Indian companies. In total, we have invested in 12 companies. After exiting one of the companies, we have 11 companies in our kitty. These investments were made through our international vehicle, out of the United States. The success of our investment activities led us to launch an AIF in India, for which we have recently received permission from the market regulator. We are in the process of our first close on that AIF.

 

Green Frontier Capital announced the launch of its first SEBI-approved Category II AIF last year. How do you plan to utilise the Rs 1,500 crore corpus? 

When we start our AIF, we will invest in areas like plastic circularity, rooftop solar, waste management and water management, and battery chemistry and battery technologies. At the moment, we have identified 6-7 companies and when we do our first close, we will immediately invest in those companies. Taking an average of $2 million (nearly Rs 17.41 crore) per company, we would invest about Rs 100 crore across those six companies.

For the rest of the amount, we will wait for new companies, we are also planning to reinvest in our portfolio firms as top-up if they manage to raise subsequent rounds.

 

What is the investment amount in India so far? 

The investment amount in India is about Rs 200 crore. If we had to exit all our companies, we would get between three to four times the invested amount.

 

What segments or areas do you invest in? Can you give examples of sectors? 

We invest in clean tech, especially companies that positively impact the environment. We have invested in approximately 6-7 sectors and we hope to expand that investment universe with the AIF. In the past, we have invested in electrical mobility, consumer and sustainable lifestyles, food tech, and charging infrastructure, amongst others.

 

What is your rule book for an investment in any company? 

Before investing, we look at whether the companies address the 3Ds. These are companies that address decarbonisation, through digitisation, and cause disruption. Take, for example, BluSmart. It's one of the companies we have invested in. It addresses decarbonisation because they use electric vehicles. Second, they are using an app-based approach and are a tech-based company. Third, they are disrupting the entire ride-hailing business.

 

While in 2025 you plan to invest in 6-7 companies, what investments have you made in previous years? 

In 2021, we invested in four companies. In 2022, we invested in 4-5 new companies. Next year, in 2023, we invested in two companies. In 2024, we made no new investments.

 

Why not? 

Last year, we only did top-ups on the earlier rounds that we had invested in. It was because, in 2023-2024, venture capitalists who were not climate-focused started investing in the sector. Due to this, the valuations of these climate companies skyrocketed. It was excellent for us because we had already invested earlier on but we did not want to invest new money. So, we sat out because we could not compete with the generalist VCs who were investing in climate.