9 startups showcase innovative ideas solving global climate-related challenges at the Climate Solver Demo Day 2020

The event was attended by representatives from the investor community and government bodies along with key public and private innovation ecosystem stakeholders.

New Delhi: WWF-India, a leading conservation organization joined hands with TiE Delhi-NCR to host the Climate Solver Demo Day in New Delhi on March 6, 2020. The initiative was aimed to facilitate an enabling platform for cleantech ventures under WWF’s Climate Solver initiative to showcase their cutting-edge innovative technologies addressing some of the biggest climate-related challenges and access funding opportunities.

Launched in 2012, WWF India’s Climate Solver initiative seeks to tackle the climate crisis on the back of a two-pronged strategy. On one hand, it aims to bolster the development, promote widespread use, and stimulate market uptake of sustainable clean energy solutions developed by startups and SMEs. At the same time, it is dedicatedly creating awareness about low carbon technologies as an immediate and most practical solution to mitigate climate change.

In June 2019, WWF-India in association with DLabs at Indian School of Business announced the launch of the second cohort of its Climate Solver Accelerator Programme with 14 startups working on clean energy technologies with the objective to scale up these innovative solutions and maximize impact creation. A two-pronged program- Business Accelerator (BA) and Capacity Development Program (CDP) was designed to support the ventures to address technology, policy, market penetration and capacity needs with a diverse set of ISB faculty, industry mentors and experts engaged with the entrepreneurs.

The startups who pitched this year included Ricron Panels, Battery Pool, A2P, Rays Enserv, Zodhya Tech, Strawcture, Navgathi, Aegeous Technologies and Enelyf Ventures. Presented to eminent audience comprising angel investors, VCs, impact investors and domain leaders representing TIFAC, TDB, DST, AGNii, UNIDO and CII, the pitch presentations also delved on how these startups are creating significant business impact for their consumers whilst solving pressing environmental challenges.

The evening also featured a special address by Mr Pramod Bhasin, Founder-Asha Impact, Chairman-Clix Capital, and Board Member TiE Delhi-NCR, who spoke about the evolving cleantech startup ecosystem, and Ms Ruchira Shukla, South Asia Regional Lead, Venture Capital, International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group, who provided insights into the cleantech funding landscape in the country.

Speaking of the tremendous potential of the innovations, Mr Ravi Singh, Secretary General and CEO, WWF-India said, “Technological and business model innovations offer the impetus to unlocking solutions for effectively tackling the climate crisis. The Climate Solver Demo Day aims to showcase and empower the startups and SME innovators who are committed to driving positive impact on the environment through their solutions.”
 
Commenting at the event, Ms Geetika Dayal – Executive Director, TiE Delhi-NCR, said. “It is our pleasure to be associated with WWF-India who have been doing extraordinary initiatives in addressing climate and conservation related issues across the country. With Climate Solver Demo Day, we aim to provide a platform to new-age startups that are dedicated to solving some of the pressing climate-related problems by leveraging an innovative blend of technology and vision.”
 
The partnership with TiE Delhi-NCR furthers the Climate Solver’s mission of enabling cleantech innovators in India by providing them with a platform where they can access funding, networking, and mentorship opportunities. For the past 7 years, the platform has leveraged its strong partnership base to consistently host empowering events and workshops for strengthening the Indian cleantech startup ecosystem and continues to raise the bar even higher.

Notes to the Editor:
WWF's Climate Solver platform first began in Sweden in 2008 and launched in India in 2012 which further expanded to include countries like China and South Africa. WWF-India has been partnering with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (IIM Ahmedabad), Indian Angel Network and National Innovation Foundation for the Climate Solver initiative.

• Climate Solver: www.climatesolver.org
• Climate Solver India page: http://bit.ly/WWFINDIAClimateInnovation

 
About TiE Delhi-NCR: TiE is a global not-for-profit organization dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship through mentoring, networking, education, incubation and funding. It is spread across a vast network of 61 Chapters in 14 countries. TiE Delhi-NCR is among the most active and vibrant chapters across the vast TiE network. In the last 18 years, it has continuously taken the lead in creating an increasingly positive ecosystem for entrepreneurs and investors. With a strong mentor support base, marquee events and focused workshops throughout the year it has emerged as one of the most valuable platforms supporting entrepreneurship, nationally. TiE has a wide range of programs including TiE Global Summit, TiEcon, Startup Expo, Special Interest Groups (SIGs) across sectors, TiE Institute & TiE Young Entrepreneurs
For more details, visit www.delhi.tie.org
 
For further details, please contact: 
Rituparna Sengupta | Associate Director, Marketing & Communication | rsengupta@wwfindia.net
011-41504797

Sakshi Gaur| Assistant Manager, Communications – Climate Change and Energy| sgaur@wwfindia.net
011 – 41504823