As part of Delhi Climate Innovation Week 2026, Climate and Sustainability Initiative (CSI), along with the Global School of Sustainability at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Systemiq Ltd., convened a closed-door roundtable bringing together leaders from industry, finance, policy, research, and the climate innovation ecosystem. The discussion explored one of the most pressing challenges facing India’s climate-tech ecosystem: how to bridge the financing gap that prevents promising innovations from scaling beyond the early stages of growth. Despite a vibrant startup landscape, participants noted that only a fraction of India’s operational climate-tech companies have successfully raised capital, while growth-stage financing remains particularly limited.
The dialogue examined the structural barriers that continue to constrain climate-tech investment, including fragmented market demand, perceived investment risks, limited access to commercial capital, inadequate data availability, and high transaction costs. Drawing on experiences from leading organisations including Tata Power and Greenko Group, participants discussed how long-term policy certainty, institutional backing, patient capital, portfolio-based business models, and demand aggregation have enabled successful scaling in the power, storage, and mobility sectors. International examples, including blended finance and guarantee mechanisms supported by the International Solar Alliance, highlighted how catalytic public capital can help mobilise significantly larger pools of private investment by reducing perceived risk.
The roundtable concluded that scaling Indian climate-tech requires more than increased venture funding; it demands coordinated action across policy, finance, capital markets, and industry. Participants emphasised the importance of creating stronger demand signals, improving access to growth capital, strengthening risk-sharing instruments, and enabling regulatory frameworks that support innovation at scale. The insights from the discussion will contribute to CSI’s ongoing work on climate finance and innovation, informing evidence-based recommendations to strengthen India’s climate-tech ecosystem and accelerate the deployment of home-grown solutions for both domestic and global markets.
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