Lightrock Eyes Investments In Growth Stage Indian Startups From $500 Mn Energy Fund

PE fund Lightrock expects to allocate a meaningful percentage to India from its new $500 Mn energy-focused fund ‘Accelerate7’, which is expected to back companies advancing United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 7. 

“India, just from the impact and commercial perspective, is going to be a meaningful market for the overall fund. Given the fund’s objectives of access to electricity and clean cooking, the opportunity here is large,” Aayush Parwal, principal at Lightrock, told Inc42. 

Overall, the fund will invest in companies across Southeast Asia, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. 

In India, the fund will look to back growth stage startups working in segments like energy storage, electric mobility, sustainable energy transition, energy financing, and other enabling technologies. 

“There’s a clear case where the penetration of electric vehicles is increasing across all form factors, either on the manufacturing or services side. Given the government’s focus on transition towards energy sources, there are a lot of business models on that end as well. These are two very attractive segments for us,” Parwal said. 

The fund will invest in growth stage startups which have a visible track record of commercial viability but require capital to grow the business geographically or improve distribution. The startup should have an established use case, product-market fit, and path to revenue scale up. 

Lightrock plans to write cheques in a range of $10 Mn to $50 Mn. 

Each portfolio company will report regularly on its impact performance, including its contribution to SDG 7, which includes ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. They will also be provided with dedicated technical assistance, along with access to specialist impact and value-creation professionals and Lightrock’s advisor network.

The fund is backed by major energy companies including Equinor, Shell, TotalEnergies, and LGT, among others. 

Lightrock has already made four investments from the fund, out of which two were in India. In March, the fund led a $47 Mn Series E funding round in commercial EV manufacturer Euler Motors. In 2025, it led a $40 Series B funding round in rooftop solar startup SolarSquare. 

Lightrock also counts startups like Arya.ag, Aye Finance, Chalo, DeHaat, among others, in its India portfolio.

The fund launch comes at a time when the world is experiencing one of the worst energy blockades in history due to ongoing geopolitical conflicts. Earlier today, the price of fuels like petrol and diesel were hiked by ₹3/litre across the country. With the government appealing for a reduction in fuel consumption, there are expectations that clean energy consumption will accelerate going forward. 

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