Green Hydrogen Pioneer Hygenco Confirms Investment from Neev II Fund

Hygenco Green Energies Pvt. Ltd (“Hygenco”), a leading green hydrogen developer, announced an investment by the Neev II Fund (fund managed by SBICAP Ventures), a leading climate and sustainability focussed SME fund. The investment will enable Hygenco to commercialise the early pipeline, as it aims to deploy over $300 million in green hydrogen projects across India in the next three years.

Hygenco, which deploys scaled-up commercially attractive green hydrogen solutions, will build-own-operate multiple green hydrogen facilities across the country. Founded by professionals having decades of experience in renewable energy, project development and consulting, the investment by Neev will give an impetus to large-scale Green Hydrogen deployment in India.

India’s Green Hydrogen Mission aims to have 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen manufacturing capability by 2030. This will be a significant step towards decarbonisation – especially in hard-to-abate sectors such as steel, refining and commercial transportation – while reducing the country’s dependence on fossil fuel imports. Hygenco is well-positioned to address these objectives and is working closely with companies in sectors with a high carbon replacement cost.

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced the investment by the UK-backed Neev II Fund into Hygenco during his two-day visit to India.

The Neev Funds are accelerating India’s green recovery from COVID-19 while strengthening sustainable investments by contributing to climate action through equity financing. This is ushering in a new wave of a ‘climate action’ asset class, that is seeing an uptick amongst investors in the post pandemic world.

Alex W Ellis, British High Commissioner to India said: “Renewable sources of energy like green hydrogen are important tools in our collective efforts to tackle climate change. The UK and India agreed to collaborate on green hydrogen initiatives as part of our Roadmap 2030 agreement. This investment is one of the ways of achieving that and also fulfilling PM Modi’s ambition of making India a global hub for green hydrogen.”

Suresh Kozhikote, MD & CEO, SBICAP Ventures Ltd, said “Green energy and especially green hydrogen is at the centre of India’s priorities. Through the investment in Hygenco, SVL is delighted to be building new markets and leading India’s journey in the commercial and industrial segment of green hydrogen sector.”

Akshay Panth, Chief Investment Officer, Neev Fund, said: “The investment into Hygenco is seminal to the philosophy of Neev II of spearheading India’s green transition through alternate energy. Neev Funds are elated to work with the next generation of climate entrepreneurs. We will continue to open the gates of capital to climate-focused purpose driven businesses.”

Amit Bansal, Co-founder, and CEO Hygenco said, “We are about to embark on a breakthrough journey that will change the way commercial customers consume hydrogen, with the mission of delivering 100% green hydrogen. Our partnership with Neev II will not just accelerate Hygenco’s growth but also enable companies in hard-to-abate carbon sectors to move to a cleaner and more sustainable energy future.”