This week, ADB Ventures–the recently launched venture capital arm of the 68-member Asian Development Bank–announced its first two investments since launching the fund to support early-stage tech companies aimed at addressing development challenges in the Asia-Pacific region. Both investment commitments have been directed toward renewable energy ventures in India.
One award will go to India’s Euler Motors, an electric vehicle manufacturer and fleet operator founded in 2019 that focuses on last-mile commercial logistics. Euler Motors will use ADB Ventures funds to accelerate India’s and Southeast Asia’s transition to sustainable mobility. The company has already raised $9.4 million in Series A funding with participation by (besides ADB Ventures) Blume, Inventus, and other investors
The second award will go to India’s Smart Joules, an energy efficiency-as-a-service provider for large hospitals and commercial buildings, whose solution allows these enterprise customers to save up to 40 percent on energy costs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. To date, Smart Joules has raised $4.1 million in its Series A financing, led by ADB Ventures and seed-stage VC fund Sangdam. Max I. Limited and other angel investors also participated in this round.
“ADB Ventures will spur high-impact clean-tech, agri-tech, fin-tech, and health-tech innovations in developing Asia with its ecosystem building. Our vision is to crowd-in $1 billion of commercial investment toward Sustainable Development Goals by 2030,” said ADB Vice-President Ashok Lavasa.
ADB Ventures Equity Fund, the bank’s first-ever VC fund, received $60 million in funding commitments in 2020 from Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Government of the Republic of Korea, Climate Investment Funds’ Clean Technology Fund, and the Nordic Development Fund.
“The ADB Ventures Equity Fund is the perfect vehicle for Finland to turn our development priorities into action. The Fund will catalyze private sector finance to address climate challenges, while integrating gender aspects. Finland stands together with ADB to meet the region’s development challenges,” said Finland’s Under-Secretary of State for Development Policy Elina Kalkku.
“Korea’s venture ecosystem has been accelerating the transition toward an innovative digital and green economy. We look forward to working closely with ADB Ventures to promote leading clean technologies in the Asia-Pacific region and achieve mutual prosperity in the post-COVID-19 era,” said Deputy Minister for International Affairs of the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance Taesik Yoon.
“ADB Ventures represents a timely complement to traditional development approaches through the involvement of the private sector in addressing critical climate change challenges. We are pleased to be working with the ADB on this important initiative that has particular relevance in the post-COVID recovery,” said Karin Isaksson of the Nordic Development Fund Managing Director, one of the backers of ADB Ventures.
AGEL raises $1.35 billion
The Asian Development Bank’s move into energy impact VC comes amid even bigger project finance news from India. On Thursday, Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL), the $25 billion Indian listed renewable energy provider, announced that it has raised a $1.35 billion debt package for a portfolio of solar and wind energy assets under construction, through definitive agreements with several leading international lenders. The revolving project finance facility will finance 1.69GW of solar and wind capacity in the Indian state of Rajasthan, making it of the largest project financing deals in the Asia-Pacific region.
Twelve international banks–Standard Chartered Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A, MUFA Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., DBS Bank Ltd., Mizuho Bank, Ltd., BNP Paribas, Barclays Bank PLC, Deutsche Bank AG, Siemens Bank GmbH and ING Bank N.V committed to the facility, which will be the first certified green hybrid project loan in India.
In a statement on the agreement, AGEL Managing Director and CEO Vneet Jaain hailed the agreement as “yet another validation of our execution ability in the renewable space,” and one that would support AGEL in its goal of building a 25GW renewables portfolio by 2025.
“We are committed to producing the least expensive green electron and the pace and scale we have embarked on puts us well ahead on this path,” Jaain said. “We believe that establishing depth and diversity in our funding resources is critical for AGEL’s vision to become the largest renewable player in the world.”
AGEL, a division of India’s Adani Group, already holds one of the largest global renewable portfolios, with over 14,815MW of utility-scale, grid-connected projects serving investment-grade counterparties. AGEL’s key customers include the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).
