Investor Profile: HCL ClimaForce Fund — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

The HCL ClimaForce Fund is a ₹25 crore philanthropic initiative launched by HCL Group in partnership with the India Climate Collaborative on 29 April 2025, and it is deliberately not a conventional venture fund. It provides grant capital, not equity investment, to market-ready climate innovations, and its job is to bridge the gap between a proven technology and real-world adoption by an industry customer. For founders, that distinction matters: this is non-dilutive support for deployment, not a priced round.

The thesis targets three sectors that dominate India's emissions trajectory: cooling, buildings and freight mobility. HCL Group cites the India Cooling Action Plan, which expects cooling demand to rise eightfold by 2037-38, a built environment projected to more than double by 2040, and freight emissions that could rise by over 450 percent by 2050, with road freight accounting for 95 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in 2020. The fund supports solutions at Technology Readiness Level 7 or above, meaning technologies that are already market-ready, and it aims to empower over 20 solutions across those three sectors.

On fund size, the publicly stated figure is ₹25 crore in grant capital. Individual grant amounts per innovator are not publicly disclosed, so founders should not assume a fixed cheque: the value lies in the pilot, not just the grant. The first phase focuses on cooling and buildings, while freight mobility solutions are included in the fund's second phase starting in 2027. Selected innovations are piloted with industry partners, backed by expert technical support, with the pilots serving as proof of concept that can then be amplified through visibility with investors and industry.

There is no venture-style portfolio of equity bets to list here, because ClimaForce backs deployments rather than buying shares. Its notable names are its partners and champions: Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson of HCL Group, who called it HCL Group's first dedicated climate initiative, and Shloka Nath, chief executive of the India Climate Collaborative, the collaborative founded in 2020 that works to grow India's climate ecosystem by unlocking philanthropic funding and identifying catalytic climate priorities. HCL Group itself, founded in 1976, generates annual revenues of over $13.8 billion with 223,000 employees across 60 countries.

Programs and support are the core offer. Selected grantees receive pilot collaborations with industry partners, expert technical support, ongoing mentorship from a jury of climate specialists, investors and industry experts, and strategic visibility with investors and industry. The perks are pilots, mentorship and adoption pathways. Applicants must be for-profit enterprises with innovative products, business models or platforms, demonstrate measurable emissions impact and business viability, and show readiness for commercial deployment in India.

How to apply for funding

There is no permanently open application portal for the HCL ClimaForce Fund. Its first call for applications opened on 30 April 2025 and closed on 10 June 2025, with the first round of pilots announced in October 2025, so that window is closed. The real route for future rounds is to watch the fund's official site, hclclimaforcefund.com, named in HCL Group's own announcement, and to prepare now: a TRL-7 or above solution, measured emissions data, a named industry adopter willing to pilot, and a business model that survives without subsidy.