Theia Ventures, an early-stage climate technology fund, has announced the first close of its maiden $30 million fund, having already secured commitments exceeding 50% of its target corpus and begun deploying capital. The anchor investor for the fund is British International Investment (BII), joined by a diverse group of corporate venture arms, fund-of-funds, and family offices from India and abroad.
Other notable international backers include Allocator One (Germany), Cisco Foundation (US), and Vitality Capital Partners (Australia). Among the Indian investors are leading family offices such as Anand Mahindra, Meher Pudumjee (Thermax Group), JM Financial, Vimson: Shivanand Salgaocar Group, and Pramit Jhaveri, former CEO of Citibank India.
With a focused investment thesis, Theia Ventures Fund I aims to invest in 18–20 early-stage startups building transformative technologies to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors such as heavy industry, manufacturing, material science, mobility, and supply chains. The firm typically invests between $500,000 and $1 million per startup, reserving over 50% of the corpus for follow-on rounds.
The fund has already begun deploying capital, with early investments in Sarla Aviation, an Accel-backed electric air taxi startup, and Climitra Carbon, a biocoal company serving the steel industry, founded by alumni from Stanford GSB, IIT-Bombay, and IIT-Dhanbad. Theia has also committed to two additional ventures in precision fermentation (biotech) and AI-based energy data modeling, with more announcements expected in early 2026. The final close of the fund is targeted for the end of the current financial year.
Priya Shah, Founder & Managing Partner of Theia Ventures, stated, “We are thrilled to officially announce Theia’s first close and to partner with BII as our anchor investor, as well as other incredible stakeholders. Theia’s objective remains clear: to unlock much-needed, early stage capital towards Indian companies building transformative technologies to disrupt the energy status quo.”
She added, “Petroleum or coal-based products and processes are now being rapidly replaced by cleaner fuels and energy sources, which presents a huge opportunity for startup innovation and growth, particularly in emerging sectors such as carbon removal, novel materials, data centres, clean mobility, renewable energy and biotech. It’s fantastic to see international capital flowing into India to support talented founders building bold solutions that will shape the future.”
Shilpa Kumar, Managing Director and Head of Asia at BII, remarked, “Through our partnership with Theia, we are delighted to support early-stage companies developing unique climate technologies that can protect the planet and vulnerable groups in India. The climate emergency affects every aspect of life. Our investment will help accelerate technology development to reduce emissions and enhance climate resilience among low-income groups. This is aligned with our goal of contributing to India’s clean energy transition.”
