Enhancing South-South cooperation and accelerating climate action are essential for Indian startups to unlock opportunities and gain a competitive edge. With a vast talent pool and a rapidly expanding startup ecosystem, India is emerging as a leader in renewable energy, green hydrogen, and carbon capture. While collaborative initiatives with other nations are driving growth, fully leveraging existing mechanisms remains a challenge due to limited information accessibility.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) recognises 168,257 startups, with central and state nodal agencies actively supporting climate tech ventures.
To strengthen the climate tech startup ecosystem in India and the Global South, the Mosambi Climate Conference (MC2) in New Delhi gathered key climate tech enablers. This exclusive, invite-only event aimed to draw insights from industry experts, accelerate climate action, and identify opportunities where Indian startups can gain a competitive edge.
Nalin Agarwal, Founding Partner of Climate Collective, emphasised the need for collective action, stating, “The climate crisis requires collective action. No single entity can solve it alone. We must break down silos and avoid duplicating efforts; instead, drive concrete actions toward clear outcomes. By strengthening South-South cooperation and creating conditions for a robust climate tech startup ecosystem, we can rapidly scale innovation and climate impact across the Global South.”
While startups strive to address pressing issues through innovation, defining the right problem statement is crucial. A challenge in one country may not apply to another, limiting cross-country collaboration and economic viability.
Ramesh Kumar Kuruppath, Chief of Unit (Programme & Projects Implementation Cluster) at the International Solar Alliance, noted, “We are seeing a lot of synergy, a lot of interest by other countries as well to push startups and innovative solutions that will play a very key role in the three components—energy access, energy transition, and energy security.”
A decade ago, governments primarily supported the startup ecosystem. Today, venture capitalists, family offices, and incubators outside government initiatives are playing a crucial role. Industry collaboration is essential to ensure that proposed solutions address real-world challenges and scale effectively.
Startups serve as a vehicle for employment generation, a narrative that should be promoted globally. However, capacity-building support is essential, and government policies need to be more accessible and understandable.
Pratap Raju, Founding Partner of Climate Collective, highlighted, “We’ve seen an explosion of innovative solutions, but deploying and scaling them is crucial. The startup process is difficult, requiring collaboration and support in areas like capacity building, fundraising, and policy research.”
Himanshu Joshi, Programme Lead at Atal Innovation Mission, remarked, “I think a lot of times startups themselves are confused about which sector they belong to. People also forget that government support is available, which is not just Indian government support. Government support can be any government support.”
He further noted, “A lot of incubators come to us. It is not only about the money that we give. It is also about the branding of a NITI Aayog, Government of India-funded incubator.”
The event featured session partnerships with leading organisations such as Capital-A, Waterfield, Prime, and Third Derivative. The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), Environmental Defence Fund, and SED Fund served as Knowledge Partners. Challenge for Green acted as an offset Partner.
