Climate tech startup Ecozen raises INR 54 Cr in Series C

Climate-smart deeptech startup Ecozen has raised INR 54 crore additional funding as the first share of a planned INR 200 crore Series C round. The new funding round was led by Dare Ventures, the venture capital arm of Coromandel International, with participation from existing investors Caspian and Hivos-Triodos Fonds (managed by Triodos Investment Management) through equity. Northern Arc, UC Inclusive Credit, Maanaveeya, and Samunnati also participated with debt funding. 

"We are thrilled to partner with Dare Ventures and other new and existing investors, as we accelerate our growth and bring climate-smart deeptech solutions to new sectors of the economy," said Devendra Gupta, CEO and Co-Founder of Ecozen. "The new funding will be used for expanding our product range, manufacturing capacity and boosting exports. Expanding beyond India and beyond agriculture will enable us to expand our market potential multifold and grow exponentially while ensuring sustainability." 

Headquartered in Pune, Ecozen was founded on-campus by three IIT Kharagpur alumni, Devendra Gupta, Prateek Singhal & Vivek Pandey. Ecozen develops climate-smart deeptech solutions and core technology stacks to deliver a sustainable future, including motor controls, IoT, and energy storage. Applying these technology stacks to the agricultural sector, Ecozen has revolutionized cold chains (Ecofrost) and the irrigation industry (Ecotron), substantially improving the income of 100,000+ farmers and enabling the generation of over 1Bn units of clean energy(kWh).

Ecozen was EBITDA positive in FY2021-22 and also recorded INR 100 crore in revenue. Ecozen has also executed successful pilots abroad and has been able to build strong demand in Africa and Southeast Asian countries. As a result, it is on track to more than double its sales in FY2022-23. Growth will come from scaling up existing businesses and expanding beyond the Indian market.

"This investment marks the entry of Dare Ventures and Coromandel into the agritech investment space." He added, "We aspire to build a strong portfolio of such highly transformational startups working at different levels of the agricultural value chain and thus creating a remarkable impact on the farmers' livelihoods," said Sameer Goel, Director, Dare Ventures Ltd.