Private equity investor Anjali Bansal, founder of climate and sustainability-focused Avaana Capital, says the fund has already deployed a third of the $150 million it raised last year. In a conversation with Fortune India, the former McKinsey India partner revealed that the capital has been channelled into three key sectors—energy, agriculture, and supply chain management.

“A third of the capital raised by the fund has already been deployed into high-conviction bets across three critical sectors: energy and resource management, sustainable agriculture, and resilient supply chains,” Bansal told Fortune India.

Bansal emphasised that these sectors are national priorities with the potential for transformative innovation and long-term value creation. Bansal, however, did not disclose which of the three sectors received the highest investment.

According to data intelligence platform Tracxn, the current portfolio of the fund includes seven companies in environment tech, six in food and agricultural tech, and four in energy tech among other sectors.

“From Kazam’s full-stack interoperable EV charging infrastructure and Aerem’s end-to-end rooftop solar solution for MSMEs, to Dharaksha's mycelium-based Styrofoam alternative and Eeki’s precision-controlled climate-resilient farms—we’re backing frontier tech solutions that can scale impact and achieve cost competitiveness,” Bansal added.

As of October 2024, the fund had already backed six startups. In February, the fund led a ₹12 crore seed round in battery technology startup Dreamfly Innovations, with participation from Sunicon Ventures and other existing investors. A month later in March, Avaana Capital also led a $5 million funding round for AmpereHour Energy, with participation from UC Impower and existing angel investors.

Bansal shared that the average check size for Avaana Capital ranges from ₹1 crore to ₹5 crore, with many of its portfolio companies requiring follow-on capital as they grow. Bansal noted that while this fund has a clear early-stage focus, the ecosystem is ready for a similar shift at the growth stage. Future funds are likely to continue prioritising early-stage investments while also expanding into more climate-aligned sectors, particularly renewable energy.

Talking about the road to revenue generation, Bansal believes that the energy sector stands out as one likely to reach the revenue-generating stage faster than others. Renewable energy — especially in later stages such as utility-scale or commercial & industrial (C&I) solar — is increasingly seen as a commercially viable opportunity.

Yet, the climate tech startup industry as a whole faces difficulty in raising growth-stage capital. According to a report by IIMA Ventures, over 2,600 climate tech startups were registered in India in the decade leading up to March 2024. Of these, around 800 remain operational. However, only about one in four — roughly 220 startups — have successfully raised capital. More than two-thirds of the funded climate startups (around 150) have only raised seed-stage capital, while fewer than 20 — less than 2.5% — have managed to raise growth-stage (Series A or beyond) funding.

Bansal who had spoken to Fortune India on the sidelines of Startup Mahakumbh had shared that the massive events like these enable startups to interact and engage with each other facilitating cross-pollination otherwise needed to build technology-led offerings.

“Startup Mahakumbh has been a tremendously energizing coming together of the ecosystem, there's a lot of cross pollination that happens. Ultimately in technology, technology is not useful only in a narrow silo. You work across different industry sectors, so I actually think this is exactly what is required coming together, exchange of ideas, exchange of talent,” added Bansal.