CHENNAI: International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is investing $1 million in energy efficiency startup Ecolibrium Energy that provides a technology platform to industrial and commercial enterprises to monitor and optimize electricity use for operations, and help mitigate the impact of climate change.
This is the first transaction signed under IFC's Cleantech Innovation Facility jointly funded by IFC and IFC-GEF Earth Fund. The facility will make equity investments totaling up to $60 million in early stage clean technology companies.
The investment from IFC will enable Ecolibrium to expand its presence across India, according to a company statement. Ecolibrium plans to work towards enabling consumers to respond to incentive programs such as lesser tariffs for consumption during off-peak hours, the statement said. Ecolibrium is incubated by Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad's business incubator Center for Innovation, Incubation & Entrepreneurship (CIIE).
"Companies operating in the energy efficiency segment are relatively new to the Indian market and raising funds from conventional sources is expected to be challenging for them," said Chintan Soni, Founder and CEO, Ecolibrium Energy. "This financing from IFC will show the way for other global and domestic investors to follow suit and invest in such technology-enabled scalable businesses."
The CIIE will also invest $500,000 in Ecolibrium in this round of investment on behalf of early stage cleantech fund Infuse Capital. IFC is one of the investors in Infuse Capital.
IFC's global program regularly invests in projects focused on mitigating climate change in the areas of renewable energy, clean technology, and resource efficiency across emerging markets, and IFC has led several innovative investments in South Asia in recent years.
