---
title: "Singapore's 100x100 Bets $100M on India | Model Diplomat"
description: "100x100 launches a $100 million fund targeting India's climate sector, betting on its emissions profile and founder pool despite global funding retreat."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/story/singapores-100x100-bets-100m-on-india"
---

# Singapore's 100x100 Bets $100M on India

A contrarian move in climate-tech funding

Model DiplomatJuly 1, 20263 min readAsia

[Rwit GhoshWhy Singapore's 100x100 wants to back India's climate founders | Company Business News](https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/why-singapores-100x100-wants-to-back-indias-climate-founders-11782783327208.html)[VccircleClimate-focused firm 100x100 floats second VC fund for India, Southeast Asia](https://www.vccircle.com/climatedfocused-firm-100x100-floats-second-vc-fund-for-india-southeast-asia)[Incubees100×100 establishes $100 M fund to establish 50 new climate-related businesses in SEA and India – Incubees](https://incubees.com/100x100-establishes-100-m-fund-to-establish-50-new-climate-related-businesses-in-sea-and-india/)

## Why Singapore's 100x100 Is Betting $100M on India's Climate Founders — Even as the Sector Cools

*Singapore-based climate venture builder 100x100 is launching its second fund, targeting India's high-emissions economy and deep founder pool — a contrarian bet as global climate-tech funding retreats.*

Singapore-based climate venture builder **100x100** is scaling its bet on India with a new $100 million fund — even as the broader climate-tech investment cycle shows signs of fatigue. The firm, which rebranded from Wavemaker Impact in late 2024, plans to co-found 50 new companies across India and Southeast Asia, targeting sectors where India's emissions profile doubles as a market opportunity: agriculture, energy, industrial supply chains, and materials. [Mint](https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/why-singapores-100x100-wants-to-back-indias-climate-founders-11782783327208.html "livemint.com")

The move is deliberately contrarian. **Climate-tech funding globally has entered a cooling phase**, with investors pulling back from capital-intensive, hardware-heavy decarbonisation plays that lack clear near-term paths to profitability. 100x100 partner Subhadeep Sanyal told Mint that India's fundamentals cut through the noise: "We're seeing a lot of people who want to solve problems. Conversations are coming back around food security and climate change." The firm's calculus rests on three Indian advantages: the country's massive emissions footprint, a deep pool of experienced founders who have exited previous ventures, and better access to late-stage capital than many Southeast Asian markets.

**The model is the differentiator.** Unlike traditional venture capital, 100x100 doesn't invest in existing startups — it sources seasoned operators and co-founds companies from scratch, taking larger equity stakes and embedding operational playbooks from day one. Every company is designed to hit a dual target: **$100 million in annual revenue and 100 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide abatement**. [e27](https://e27.co/a-factory-for-climate-startups-100x100s-us100m-bet-on-50-companies-in-sea-india-20260616/ "e27.co") Founding partner Marie Cheong framed it bluntly: "We believe that solving the world's most pressing emissions challenges also represents a significant economic opportunity. With Fund II, we are doubling down on a demonstrated strategy." [DealStreetAsia](https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/100x100-second-climate-fund-485793 "dealstreetasia.com")

## The track record — and the early casualties

Fund I gives the strategy real-world ballast. That $60 million vehicle, which hit its hard cap in 2023, attracted institutional backing from the **US International Development Finance Corporation, British International Investment, and the Singapore Economic Development Board**, along with Triple Jump and Japan's Kajima Corporation. [VCCircle](https://www.vccircle.com/climatedfocused-firm-100x100-floats-second-vc-fund-for-india-southeast-asia "vccircle.com") The first fund has co-founded 27 companies across eight countries, with a portfolio survival rate the firm claims is nearly double the median venture capital average and capital efficiency roughly 1.5 times higher than typical VC-backed startups.

But the India entry has already drawn blood. Of four investments made since the second half of 2024, **Elevate Foods — a farm-gate processing startup — has already failed**, a reminder that the venture-building model does not immunise against market risk. The surviving India portfolio companies include Biora (biomass fuel) and Ecomet Logistics (rail-based freight), with the firm targeting 40-50 startups across the broader India-Southeast Asia corridor from the new fund.

The numbers signal something else: **capital efficiency is being priced in at the design stage**. 100x100's firms operate on leaner cost structures than conventional VC-backed peers, and the firm's in-house operational support — sector playbooks, embedded supply-chain partnerships, and a disciplined "white space" identification process that screens over 1,000 experienced founders annually — is engineered to compress the valley of death that kills most climate hardware startups.

## What to watch next

The firm has not disclosed whether it has secured commitments for Fund II or set a timeline for its final close. [DealStreetAsia](https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/100x100-second-climate-fund-485793 "dealstreetasia.com") The real test will be whether 100x100 can convert its early-stage venture-building playbook into a repeatable engine at scale — producing not just companies that survive, but companies that genuinely hit the $100 million revenue and 100 million tonne abatement targets across 50 ventures simultaneously.

For [India](https://modeldiplomat.com/countries/india "modeldiplomat.com"), the 100x100 bet is a data point in a larger realignment: as global climate finance retreats from speculative cleantech toward proven commercial models, the country's emissions-intensive agriculture, energy, and logistics sectors are being reframed not as liabilities but as **the world's largest addressable market for decarbonisation**. Whether that thesis holds will be measured in the survival rate of the next 50 companies — not the press releases announcing them.

[Climate Tech](https://modeldiplomat.com/tag/climate-tech)[Venture Capital](https://modeldiplomat.com/tag/venture-capital)[Investment](https://modeldiplomat.com/tag/investment)[Sustainability](https://modeldiplomat.com/tag/sustainability)

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