Cleantech Startup EcoRatings Bags Pre-Seed Funding To Help Firms Meet ESG Goals

Cleantech startup EcoRatings has raised $1 Mn (INR 8.3 Cr) in a pre-seed funding round from a host of investors, including We Founder Circle, 888 VC, Vinners, Indigram Labs Foundation and Google, in a mix of equity and grants.

“The funding will be used to acquire paid data sources, increase the number of tokens and introduce multi-modal capabilities,” Aditi Balbir, cofounder and CEO at EcoRatings, told Inc42.

Founded by Balbir, Aqeel Ahmed and Shruti Anand in 2023, EcoRatings is a cleantech startup that utilises AI/ML and Big Data to quantify the environmental impact of products and services.

EcoRatings’ methodology, based on the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals and ESG norms, resonates with consumers’ increasing demand for transparency in product sustainability.

Balbir added, “Our Gen AI platform is a solution for organisations striving to meet their sustainability goals. With the new investment, we look forward to further work on our large language model specific to the sustainability domain.” 

EcoRatings’ platform analyses vast datasets to provide precise answers by processing contextually relevant data from internal and external sources, transforming insights into real-time chat replies.

Its Unified Knowledge Platform, featuring a large language model with a RAG architecture in an enterprise environment, is designed to help organisations achieve sustainability targets. It serves consultants, investment banks, large corporations, and aggregators, facilitating sustainable decision-making.

The startup claims to have over 50 paying clients. Its USP is that it is a domain-specific large language model, similar to ChatGPT, but specifically designed for the sustainability domain.

Cleantech startups in India are spearheading innovation, driving the development of sustainable solutions without hindering the nation’s growth. These startups are advancing clean energy technologies, addressing organic waste management, and providing air and water purification solutions, contributing significantly to India’s clean energy goals. 

In this sector, machine learning (ML) and predictive analytics are emerging as transformative tools. ML, a subset of artificial intelligence, enables computers to learn from data without explicit programming. 

This technology is instrumental in the fight against climate change, facilitating the identification of emission hotspots, prediction of carbon footprints and optimisation of operations for maximum sustainability. 

In April, Inc42 reported, that real estate-focused cleantech startup Accacia raised $6.5 Mn (around INR 54 Cr) in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Illuminate Financial, with participation from AC Ventures and existing investors Accel and B Capital. 

In March, another AI-powered cleantech platform Sprih raised seed funding of $3 Mn (about INR 25 Cr) led by Leo Capital, with participation from entrepreneurs and climate experts globally.

Another cleantech startup called Recykal bagged INR 110 Cr as a part of its Pre-Series B funding round to offer cloud-based solutions to its clients that enable transparent and traceable material flows in waste.

To give recognition to the cleantech startups of India and boost the ecosystem, Startup Mahakumbh 2024 also showcased some of the climate tech innovations which have the potential to address the country’s climate challenges. 

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