Sangam Ventures: India's pioneering climate seed fund

Sangam Ventures is a seed and early-stage venture fund investing in solutions that lead to inclusive development and communities resilient to climate change. Founded in 2016 by Karthik Chandrasekar, the Delhi-based firm is a pure-play climate fund: it invests to improve access to sustainable energy and resource productivity solutions for the underserved in India.

Investment thesis

Sangam takes the first half of the investment cycle — tiny seed cheques to validate climate technologies — expecting larger VCs to provide growth capital later. As Chandrasekar told The Hindu BusinessLine, Sangam is a "hard-nosed commercial investor": it picks up high single-digit to low double-digit stakes, deliberately leaving founders with enough equity to keep skin in the game. Its declared mission: creating inclusive and climate-resilient communities while serving the underserved.

Sectors & stages

Climate tech only: clean energy, biofuels, energy storage, electric mobility, waste-to-energy, cooling and resource productivity. Stages: pre-seed, seed and early Series A.

Fund & cheque sizes

Current fund size is not publicly disclosed. Sangam began with a $1.2 million pool and later raised another $500,000; its largest early investment was $350,000 in Promethean Energy, with subsequent initial cheques around $100,000 plus $75,000 follow-ons. A new fund is in the works as of September 2026, per VCCircle, following Chandrasekar's return to the firm after founding venture fund Synapses.

Notable portfolio

Portfolio names include Carbon Masters — whose Carbonlites brand pioneered bottled bio-CNG from organic waste — Promethean Energy, Inficold (off-grid cold storage), Cell Propulsion (electric commercial vehicles), Smart Joules, Delectrik Systems, Khethworks, ME SOLshare and Peacock Solar.

Partners & team

Karthik Chandrasekar — who previously led clean-tech investments in India for the Acumen Fund and earlier worked with TVS Capital Funds (IIT Bombay graduate, Chicago Booth MBA) — founded and leads the firm, and also chairs AIC-Sangam.

Programs run

Sangam co-founded AIC-Sangam, India's first dedicated clean-technology incubator, in partnership with the Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog — an ecosystem play offering acceleration programming to help clean-tech startups reach product-market fit and scale their high-impact solutions.

How to approach

Ideal for climate founders at pre-seed or seed with working prototypes: engage directly, or through the AIC-Sangam incubator network. Sector specialists only — generic SaaS pitches will not fit.