Following a peak of USD 2.47 billion in funding in 2022, India’s environmental technology sector faced a significant setback, witnessing a sharp decline to USD 1.68 billion in 2023, marking a notable 32 per cent decrease, according to a report by Tracxn, a platform for tracking startups and private companies.

The report stated that as of the first quarter of 2024, the landscape continues to reflect dwindling support, with funding standing at a mere USD 0.24 billion. According to the report, the year 2018 marked a notable increase in both global and India-specific funding for environment tech. 

Notably, the sector has raised total funding of USD 7.3 billion to date and funding saw substantial growth between 2018 and 2022, surging from USD 0.23 billion to USD 2.47 billion. 

The report added, “Environment tech funding in India peaked in 2022 at $2.47 billion. However, it experienced a decline to USD 1.68 billion in 2023, a 32 per cent decrease from 2022. As of the first three months of 2024, the funding stands at USD 0.24 billion.”

Despite the global increase in funding, India’s share remained consistently low, ranging from 0 per cent to 7 per cent. It also mentioned that there was a significant spike in India’s share in global funding in this space, to 5 per cent in 2019 from 1 per cent in 2018.

Accoridng to the Tracxn report, “India’s share in global funding was 7 per cent in 2022, the highest since 2011. 

In India, Bengaluru (USD 2.7 billion) topped the list in this space in terms of all-time city-wise funding, followed by Delhi (USD 1.2 billion) and Mumbai (USD 942 million). 

This space has seen 14 IPOs and 25 acquisitions to date and only five companies reported USD 100 million plus rounds in 2023. “Only one Unicorn has emerged in India so far – Ola Electric,” the report revealed.