Edition #23. It seems appropriate that in yet another week marked by strife over oil, companies focused on renewable energy and electric vehicles attracted more than the usual attention from private equity and venture capital (PE-VC) investors.
US private equity firm KKR made a splash in public transportation under its Global Climate Transition strategy, committing $310 million to PMI Electro Mobility and affiliate Allfleet. Nasdaq-listed ReNew Energy raised $95 million from LeapFrog Investments, Carlyle AlpInvest and Allianz Global Investors-managed Emerging Markets Climate Action Fund. Ecofy, which describes itself as a ‘green-only’ NBFC, raised a large round from British International Investment (BII) and Finnfund, among others (scroll down to ‘The Week in Deals’ for more details).
Together, the three deals accounted for over 50% of the capital deployed by PE-VC investors in an otherwise slower week for dealmaking. That would be notable in any context. But, against the backdrop of a conflict that has reminded the world, with considerable violence, of what fossil fuel dependence actually costs, they carry a different weight.
Climate and environment as a sector has already attracted reasonable interest from investors this year. The cheque sizes have also been fairly substantial.
Last month, Varaha, which develops carbon removal projects across biochar, afforestation and regenerative agriculture, raised a $45 million Series B round led by WestBridge Capital. The same week, solar-based renewable energy company Reliance Renewables raised $100 million in growth capital from Impact Fund Denmark and Dutch developmental finance bank FMO. Statiq, which is building EV charging infrastructure, raised $18 million in an equity and debt round led by Tenacity Ventures. And, in January, solar energy financing company Aerem Solutions raised $15 million from SMBC Asia Rising Fund and others.
None of this capital is idealistic. LeapFrog Investments, KKR, WestBridge and BII are all return-seeking investors deploying into businesses that they believe will compound. The recent investment momentum could be a coincidence. Or maybe it’s taken a war over oil to give India’s energy transition its most compelling pitch deck.
The Week in Deals
Dealmaking Slows; upGrad Unacademy Sign Term Sheet
Apart from green investments, dealmaking remained largely subdued this week. Investors deployed capital across housing finance, wealth management and consumer businesses in food and personal care. Also interesting was the Delhi NCR region’s dominance in capturing dealflow in volume terms, outpacing Bengaluru and Mumbai.
Allfleet and PMI Electro Mobility Solutions raised $310 million from KKR, which will pick up a majority stake in Allfleet and a minority stake in PMI Electro, the PE firm said in a statement.
Delhi-based PMI Electro manufactures commercial electric buses. Allfleet is its e-bus platform and plans to deploy 5,000-plus buses, under long-term concession and service agreements with state transport authorities.
The investment marks KKR’s first in India under its Global Climate Transition strategy. The firm has deployed more than $44 billion in climate and environmental sustainability investments globally since the launch of the strategy in 2010.
Shubham Housing Development Finance raised $96 million in a secondary round led by Creador. LeapFrog Investments was a returning investor in the round. The transaction delivered exits to early investors, said a statement. The Gurugram-based company makes affordable housing finance available to borrowers in the informal sector.
Ecofy raised $42 million in a new funding round led by BII and Finnfund Digital Access Impact Fund I, managed by Finnish development finance institution Finnfund. Existing investors Eversource Capital and FMO joined the round, the company said in a statement. The Mumbai-based NBFC provides loans to individuals and small businesses for electric vehicles and rooftop solar solutions.
Atlys raised a $36 million Series C round led by Susquehanna Asia VC. Travel services company MakeMyTrip joined the round as a new investor. Returning investors included Elevation Capital, Long Journey Ventures and Peak XV Partners. The San Francisco and Delhi based visa processing startup last raised capital in 2024 when Peak XV and Elevation led a $20 million Series B.
The upGrad-Unacedemy deal is back on the table. After pulling out of negotiations in January, upGrad signed a term sheet to acquire troubled edtech Unacademy in an all-stock deal. Unacademy founder Gaurav Munjal will stay on in the merged entity, upGrad founder Ronnie Screwvala and Munjal said in separate social media posts.
Munjal and co-founder Roman Saini have lately been focused on building Airlearn, an AI-native language learning app.
“They disrupted the sector once, and now with AI they plan to do it again. We are already seeing Airlearn gain global traction,” Screwvala said in his post. Airlearn, Munjal said, “is gaining meaningful traction in the US, UK, Germany and Canada.” He also said Unacademy’s cash reserves were at over $100 million.
upGrad called off acquisition talks in early January following differences over valuation. upGrad, according to reports at the time, had offered Unacademy’s investors a share swap deal that valued the latter at $300-400 million. At its peak, in 2021, Unacademy was valued at $3.4 billion.
Unacademy has raised $880 million (source: Tracxn) over its lifetime from investors such as SoftBank, Temasek, Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital and Peak XV Partners.
Grapevine, a social networking platform for anonymous salary and career conversations, raised $4.1 million from KAE Capital, existing investor Peak XV Partners, and Unilazer Ventures. Apart from the networking feature, the Bengaluru-based startup also offers Round1, an conversational AI interview platform, and Tal, an AI talent agent.
Other deals this week:
Sub-$1 million deals: Physiotherapy solutions startup Rymo Technologies raised a $1 million seed round led by IAN Angel Fund. Personal care brand Laani raised a $0.9 million pre-seed round led by V3 Ventures and Saama Capital. Pain management solutions startup Betterhood raised $0.5 million in a seed round from Kairon Capital. Shapewear brand Pinq Polka raised $0.4 million in a pre-Series A round from Inflection Point Ventures.
Submit a deal for The Runway Briefing by replying to this email or write to us at hello@therunwaynews.com.
Recco | Notes on Culture, Craft and the Considered Life
The Navitimer and the Concorde
The Navitimer is one of Breitling’s most recognisable watches, closely tied to aviation at a time when flying still carried a sense of occasion. Introduced in 1952 for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, it was conceived as a working instrument, with its circular slide rule enabling pilots to perform in-flight calculations. Breitling’s association with aviation goes back further, to cockpit clocks and onboard instruments supplied to aircraft in the 1930s and ’40s.
The Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 Tribute to Concorde nods to the supersonic aircraft, which first flew in 1969. Powered by four Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 turbojet engines, the aircraft could cruise at Mach 2, halving transatlantic travel times.
At cruising altitude — around 60,000 feet — passengers had an unusual vantage point: a deep blue stratospheric sky, darker than what is visible from conventional aircraft.
That view inspires the watch’s dial, finished in a deep blue shade. The contrasting white sub-dials and inner slide rule reference Concorde’s nickname, the “White Bird”. The rest of the design remains familiar — a tri-compax chronograph with the Navitimer’s slide-rule bezel, with Concorde references kept to dial details and engravings on the caseback.
The 43mm watch is powered by Breitling’s in-house B01 chronograph movement, a COSC-certified calibre with a 70-hour power reserve. The watch is limited to 593 pieces – a number taken from the engine designation that powered the Concorde.
Recco is a column by Murali Menon. Murali has spent a career paying close attention to how things are made, where they come from, and why some of them endure. Every edition, one recommendation: a maker, an object, a place, a practice.
Thank you for reading The Runway. We’d love to get your feedback. Drop us a line at hello@therunwaynews.com or just reply to this email.