Pune-based climate-tech startup <keyword id="2608223" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ecozen" source="Orion">Ecozen</keyword> on Tuesday raised $25 million in equity and debt capital in its Series C round, as it looks beyond agriculture to expand into new deep-tech fields worldwide. The platform estimated that the market size for its sustainability-focused technology stacks in India to grow to $25 billion by 2025. The Series C equity portion was led by Nuveen and Dare Ventures (Coromandel International), with participation from the Export-Import Bank of India (India EXIM Bank), and existing investors Caspian and Hivos-Triodos Fonds (managed by <keyword id="14348026" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="triodos-investment" source="Orion">Triodos Investment</keyword> Management). The debt portion was provided by Maanaveeya Development and Finance, <keyword id="12778882" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="oxyzo" source="Orion">Oxyzo</keyword>, <keyword id="7156261" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="northern-arc" source="Orion">Northern Arc</keyword> group, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank. The company has helped generate over 1 billion units of clean energy (kWh), saved over 20,000 metric tonnes of food loss and reduced over 1 million tonnes of GHG emissions. "As we expand beyond India and agriculture, we will continue to focus on profitable growth and sustainable technology solutions. Ecozen will aggressively expand production capacity and product range," said Devendra Gupta, CEO and Co-Founder at Ecozen. Ecozen said it has revolutionised cold chains (through its Ecofrost product line) and the irrigation industry (through its Ecotron product line), improving the incomes of 120,000 farmers and helping decarbonize agriculture. It will now leverage Nuveen's experience in scaling impact-oriented businesses to augment its commercial offering, and the funding from India Exim Bank will support the Company towards its export-related activities. The company is looking beyond the agricultural sector to accelerate the broader energy transition through its deeptech expertise in energy storage, motor controls, IoT and analytics. "With Ecozen's proven expertise in delivering climate-smart technology solutions, while maintaining profitability, together we will exponentially grow their impact globally and beyond agriculture," said <keyword id="15370820" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="rekha-unnithan" source="Orion">Rekha Unnithan</keyword>, Managing Director and Co-Head of Private Equity Impact Investing at Nuveen. Harsha Bangari, managing director at the Export-Import Bank of India, said that Ecozen, with its innovative clean technology solutions, has potential in international markets. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/jsw-steel-arm-enters-into-deal-to-buy-31-pc-stake-in-startup-ayena/articleshow/97278651.cms">JSW Steel arm enters into deal to buy 31 pc stake in startup Ayena</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/5g-network-can-be-misused-for-drug-trafficking-money-laundering-terror-financing-papers-submitted-at-dgps-meet/articleshow/97278524.cms">5G network can be misused for drug trafficking, money laundering, terror financing: Papers submitted at DGPs' meet</a>

Climate tech platform Ecozen raises $25 million to expand beyond agriculture

The charging points are set up by Shuchi Anant Virya's EV Charging Solutions brand - Power Bank Shuchi is an equal joint venture between Fourth Partner Energy and Lithium Urban Technologies Maharashtra's Minister of <keyword id="11882084" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="tourism-and-environment-aditya-thackeray">Tourism and Environment Aditya Thackeray</keyword> today inaugurated the EV Charging Hub at Kohinoor Mills in Dadar, Mumbai. The charging infrastructure has been set up by Power Bank, the EV charging solutions brand from Shuchi Anant Virya - a joint venture between corporate sustainable mobility solutions provider, Lithium Urban Technologies and Fourth Partner Energy, India's largest solar energy company for commercial and industrial businesses. Located at Kohinoor Square Building MCGM Parking, the charging hub can service both electric fleet service providers and individual EV owners. The parking space is managed by Ashutosh Enterprises. The charging hub can accommodate six electric vehicles at a time, consisting of four fast chargers and two CCPS chargers for privately owned EVs. With a capacity of 15 KW (DC001) each Fast Charger, the fast chargers are ideal for an electric vehicle fleet that includes models like eVeritos and eTigor and the Type 2 AC Charger is ideal for models like MG-ZS EV and eNexon (CCPS). Apart from that there are two slow charging points designed to charge all types of e2w, e3w and e4w vehicles. While inaugurating the charging hub, Aditya Thackeray, Minister of <keyword id="11882083" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="tourism-and-environment-maharashtra">Tourism and Environment, Maharashtra</keyword>, said; "It is heartening to witness great efforts being put in from all key stakeholders to make Maharashtra Electric Vehicle friendly. We had announced our state's EV policy about a month ago and it is encouraging to see the active participation from all fronts to bring this goal into being. Today's Power Bank EV charging hub inauguration is one of the many steps that we as a government will take for the greater good of our planet." The charging hub will be maintained and operated by Shuchi Anant Virya's brand Power Bank. It is estimated that more than 2000 vehicles, monthly, will avail the facility installed in one of the busiest business centres in Mumbai Its close proximity to IndiaBulls Finance Centre will also aid in driving usage of the hub. Power Bank as a brand manages 5 hubs in Mumbai and 10+ independent charging points in Mumbai. Commenting on the inauguration, Sanjay Krishnan, Founder, Lithium Urban Technologies said, "We are committed to driving sustainable mobility in the country by bridging the gaps when it comes to charging infrastructure. Transition to green mobility is no longer an aspiration but has become a necessity. Lithium, through its joint venture partnership, Shuchi is working towards making EVs accessible and affordable to the masses. It is equally imperative that we become conscious of the energy sources, wherein a brand like Power Bank can make a positive contribution towards India's EV agenda. This new hub will be a starting point for people to transition to EVs, without dwelling on the range anxiety that plagues the sector." Speaking about Shuchi's plans, Saif Dhorajiwala, Co-founder, Fourth Partner Energy added, "In addition to charging hubs across Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Kolkata, Pune and Bengaluru, the partnership with HPCL to set up EV chargers in select retail fuel outlets pan-India will help in easier access and quicker penetration of electric mobility. Eventually the idea is to power these chargers using renewable energy thereby deepening India's commitment to decarbonization. Although commercial fleet operators, logistics and public transport will drive the initial wave - we believe affordable, reliable infrastructure will be imperative in promoting adoption of personal passenger EVs." About Lithium Urban Technologies Lithium Urban Technologies owns the largest fleet of EVs in the world outside of China. It is India's first zero emission service, with its own fleets of Electric Vehicles (EVs) and associated charging infrastructure, backed by a strong technology platform that involves telematics, fleet management systems, scheduling, rostering and analytics-based optimization; and trained and certified drivers. Lithium also owns and operates India's largest EV charging network spread across 7 cities in India. As a socially conscious company, Lithium is the only transportation company to have received the ISO 26000 guidance on social responsibility. Having covered almost 100 million kilometers to date it has abated about 20,000 MT of Co2e. Lithium's institutional investors include LGT Capital and International Finance Corp (a <keyword id="11882085" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="world-bank-group-co">World Bank Group Co</keyword>). Lithium is a recipient of several national and global awards including the prestigious Financial Times/IFC Transformational Awards 2019 in London. About Fourth Partner Energy Fourth Partner is India's #1 ranked solar energy company, catering to commercial and industrial businesses. The firm has an installed capacity of over 550 MW across both distributed and open access portfolios; and a presence across 24 states pan-India with 2000+ projects executed for over 150 marquee clients. 4PEL commenced international operations in FY20 and is present in South and Southeast Asian countries including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia, Nepal and Singapore. Fourth Partner Energy's access to green financing is unparalleled in the industry - some of our equity partners and lenders include <keyword id="124318" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="TPG-Capital">TPG Capital</keyword>, The RISE Fund, Norfund, Bank of America, Symbiotics, ASN Bank, <keyword id="4102811" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Triodos-Bank">Triodos Bank</keyword>, responsibility, OIKO Credit, SBI, ADB, HDFC and RBL Bank. The firm offers in-house, end-to-end capabilities including Evaluation, Design, Planning, Procurement, Construction, Operation, Maintenance and Financing of critical solar infrastructure. 4PEL has now embarked on its journey to expand beyond distributed solar and into a variety of clean energy solutions including EV charging infrastructure, storage and floating solar. Through its operational portfolio, 4PEL has helped reduce annual carbon emissions by over 8 lakh tons. Image 1: Lithium Urban Technology's EV getting charged at the newly inaugurated charging hub at Kohinoor Mills Image 2: Aditya Thackeray, Honourable Minister of Tourism and Environment, Maharashtra inaugurating Power Bank's charging hub at Kohinoor Mills. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/personal-finance/news/investing-in-gold-if-you-dont-want-to-buy-jewellery-or-bars-there-are-several-ways-to-do-it-digitally/articleshow/85421865.cms">Investing in gold: If you don’t want to buy jewellery or bars, there are several ways to do it digitally</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/how-google-forms-whatsapp-are-helping-afghans-with-resettlement-programs/articleshow/85421485.cms">How Google Forms, WhatsApp are helping Afghans to cross borders with resettlement programs</a>

Mumbai gets its first public electric vehicle charging station at Kohinoor Mills

New Delhi, Dec 12 () Agritech startup Ecozen on Thursday said it has raised USD 6 million (around Rs 42 crore) from investors to fund its expansion plan.
Based in Pune, Ecozen was founded by three IIT Kharagpur alumni, Devendra Gupta, Prateek Singhal and Vivek Pandey. It develops technology-enabled products to strengthen farm-to-fork value chain of perishables.
Ecozen said in a statement it has completed its USD 6 million Series A fund raise, after receiving investment from Sathguru Catalyser's Innovation in Food &amp; Agriculture Fund (IFA Fund). This funding is on top of the investment received in July 2019 from Caspian and the Hivos-Triodos Fund".
Omnivore, which originally invested in Ecozen in 2015, also participated in this round.
The company had raised USD 3 million in seed funding.
Ecozen's irrigation and cold chain products (Ecotron and Ecofrost) help farmers who grow perishables to increase their yields, store their produce longer, and realise higher prices. The company said that about 25,000 farmers in India use its products.
A Krishna Kumar, ex-MD of State Bank of India, will be joining Ecozen's board as the company embarks on its next phase of growth, the statement said.
Ecozen Co-Founder &amp; CEO Devendra Gupta said: "The funding raised will enable us to expand our product range, production capacity, and enter new geographies".
Vijayaraghavan Kannan, Senior Partner at IFA Fund said: "Ecozen has focused on using technology as a differentiator and has pioneered innovative products addressing market imperfections and catering to underserved segments of agriculture &amp; food value chain".
Ravi Narasimham, Investment Director at Caspian, said, "...we believe this round of funding will help Ecozen realize its potential by furthering its business strategy across new geographies by launching its innovative product range". MJH BAL

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Climate tech platform Ecozen raises $25 million to expand beyond agriculture

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Mumbai gets its first public electric vehicle charging station at Kohinoor Mills

PTI

Agri-tech startup Ecozen raises USD 6mn in Series A funding

PTI