GPS Renewables, a Bangalore-based cleantech startup has announced that it has raised USD 3 million in a Series A funding led by Netherlands based Hivos-Triodos Fund, one of the impact funds managed by Triodos Investment Management, and Hyderabad based Caspian, an Impact Investor, through its fund SME Impact Fund IV.
Founded in 2012 by IIM Bangalore Alumni Mainak Chakraborty and Sreekrishna Sankar, GPS renewables aims to transition the world to a cleaner and more sustainable way of living. The company currently deploys cutting edge biogas technologies to solve the organic waste management challenge and accelerate the substitution of fossil fuel with bio-energy. Presently GPS Renewables is tackling a $500-billion market opportunity and is building from India for the World. Its core products are the BioUrja, a state-of-the-art modular biogas plant and the BiogasBot, a proprietary AI solution for remote predictive bioprocess management. The company has close to 100 BioUrja installations across India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka with Fortune 500 companies such as Microsoft, Intel, Bosch, Cummins, Saint Gobain, Reliance, JW Marriott Group, and the TATAs. These BioUrjas convert organic waste into clean energy for captive usage, significantly reducing their carbon footprint.
The Indian bioenergy segment is at an inflection point, thanks to the Swachh Bharat Mission and Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG)'s Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) scheme. The SATAT scheme aims to reduce India's oil import annual bill of over $100-billion by setting up 5,000 bioCNG plants, whose output will be sold via leading oil marketing companies such as IOCL, HPCL, BPCL and GAIL. GPS Renewables is already well positioned with regards to SATAT post bagging the contract for Asia's largest bioCNG plant in Central India.
Commenting on this investment, Investment Director B V Ravi Narasimham from Caspian said, “We are very excited about our investment with GPS Renewables, especially considering their recent successes. Their business model and sustainable solutions address the overwhelming need for organic waste management challenges faced by urban establishments. Given the extensive experience of the promoters in the bio energy space, AI technology and their proven business acumen, we trust that the company is well on its way to being a pioneer in the clean energy tech space.”
Mainak Chakraborty, Co-founder and CEO of GPS Renewables said, “In the last 3 years, while we have been able to grow the company by 5x, purely via debt, we have also managed to keep the business profitable, since our inception. Caspian Debt has played an instrumental role in our journey by catering to our specific needs as a business, with customised loans that helped us achieve scale. We are happy to extend our relationship with Caspian and welcome this new partnership with Triodos.”
Sreekrishna Sankar, Co-founder and COO of GPS Renewables added, "The funds from the current equity round will go towards team expansion, as we plan to strengthen our senior and middle management. A sizeable investment will also be made towards our continuous R&D efforts to improve our biogas upgradation, feedstock expansion and faecal sludge to energy solutions".
“GPS Renewables fits very well into our sustainable energy transition portfolio, as it operates within the nexus between food waste and clean energy. We look forward to supporting the company’s ambitious goals to further grow its competitive and highly innovative edge in a potentially untapped market like India. Caspian is one of our long-term, valued partners in India and we are pleased to be a part of this fund raise,” said Karel Nierop, Fund Manager at Triodos Investment Management.
