Climate-Smart Deeptech Company Ecozen Raises $25 Million Ecozen will 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
By Teena Jose •
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Ecozen, a company that develops climate-smart deeptech solutions and core technology stacks to deliver a sustainable future, including motor controls, IoT, and energy storage, has raised $25 million of combined equity and debt capital. The Series C equity portion was led by Nuveen and Dare Ventures (Coromandel International), along with participation from Export-Import Bank of India (India EXIM Bank), and existing investors Caspian and Hivos-Triodos Fonds (managed by Triodos Investment Management). Omnivore and IFA, early investors in Ecozen, achieved partial exits in this round. The debt portion was provided by Maanaveeya Development and Finance, Oxyzo, Northern Arc group, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank.
"We are thrilled to successfully close this round and are excited to bring Nuveen, India Exim Bank, as well as other new investors, on board. 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 will 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 will also 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, according to an official statement by the company.
"Ecozen has built products that do all three simultaneously - replacing diesel water pumps and fossil-fuel dependent coolers, improving drought resiliency for smallholder farms, and increasing farmer incomes. 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 Rekha Unnithan, managing director and co-head of Private Equity Impact Investing at Nuveen.
Nuveen is a pioneer in global impact investing with its first investment in this discipline dating back to the 1980s. The firm has since invested approximately $600 million in direct and indirect private equity capital across over 200 portfolio companies in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the statement added.
