Coimbatore: Native Angel Network, the investment arm of Nativelead, the Tamil Nadu-based initiative for nurturing entrepreneurial ecosystems, has made a significant investment in Carbon Masters, the Bangalore-based renewable energy start-up. This top-up investment was led by Nativelead with earlier investors in the company Indian Angel Network, clean-tech VC Sangam Ventures and other board members joining this round.
Coimbatore: Native Angel Network, the investment arm of Nativelead, the Tamil Nadu-based initiative for nurturing entrepreneurial ecosystems, has made a significant investment in Carbon Masters, the Bangalore-based renewable energy start-up. This top-up investment was led by Nativelead with earlier investors in the company Indian Angel Network, clean-tech VC Sangam Ventures and other board members joining this round.
This investment reflects Nativelead’s commitment to supporting enterprises that focus on sustainability. With a mission to address the impacts of climate change, the Bangalore-based Carbon Masters, co-founded by Som Narayan and Kevin Houston has pioneered the development of India’s first bottled Bio-CNG brand Carbonlites.
Carbonlites is made by converting food and Agri wastes (otherwise destined for landfill) to clean renewable energy which can displace LPG for commercial cooking in restaurants and hotels. The “waste” by-product of the process is converted to nutrient-rich organic manure which helps farmers reduce their use of Chemical fertilizers further reducing GHG emissions.
An initiative to hasten innovation in clean energy, Mission Innovation’s 1.5°C Compatible Solutions Framework developed and led by Sweden has identified Carbonlites as one of the top 100 solutions in the world that can significantly reduce GHG emissions. 45 megatons of CO2e by 2030 when expanded globally.
The investment of an undisclosed sum is led by Senthil Sankar of Nativelead Karur Chapter. He sees immense growth potential for the start-up that completed its second year since its seed round of investment with proven unit economics of Carbonlites and a scalable asset lite business model with corporate partners and municipal bodies across India according to Senthil Sankar.
The major revenue streams for Carbon Masters are from the sale of Carbonlites Bio-CNG cooking Gas, Carbonlites Bio-Enriched Organic Manure, Plant operations fees and the sale of ancillary products required to set up the infrastructure.
“We are delighted to have the support of Nativelead to help us scale our Carbonlites initiative, “says Som Narayan. “This latest infusion of funds will help us expand our operations and reach new markets” The company currently has a strong presence in Karnataka, and is selling Carbonlites in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The next phase will see Carbon Masters take its energy and organic manure solutions to Tirupati Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Nativelead that was started with a focus on developing regional startups is encouraging innovations to come to its regions. I'm also happy to see we have Nativelead leads coming forward in leading deals. Other than this Nativelead has invested in SP Robotics, Fresh world, VillFresh, Happy Hens, Native special, Farmers Fresh Zone etc" says Nagaraja Prakasam, Founder Chairman of Nativelead and lead investor board member of Carbon Masters. As well as giving financial support NAN has already started to help the company with local knowledge, contacts, and mentoring support to start its operations in Kaur, Tamil Nadu. Senthil adds “Bringing cutting edge cleantech start-ups from outside of the region to Tamil Nadu in collaboration with local entrepreneurs helps our entrepreneurs to access world-class technologies to solve its problems via Nativelead network which is a win-win for everyone”