Indian Family Offices Lean Into Climate-Tech, But Retention and Scale Remain Weak

India’s wealthy families are emerging as important players in climate-tech financing. Yet without longer-term commitment, structural integration, and ecosystem support, their role risks being limited to episodic seed-stage bets.

NEW DELHI, September 22, 2025 — Indian high-net-worth (HNW) families are showing increasing appetite for climate-tech investments, but remain hesitant to scale commitments, according to the latest Unlocking Impact Capital – The Indian Family Office Edition (2025) report by Waterfield Advisors and the India Impact Investors Council (IIC).

Climate-Tech Gains Traction
The report highlights that between 2021 and 2024, climate-tech accounted for 35% of all family office-backed deals and nearly 28% of total investment value.
Key areas of focus include: sustainable mobility, clean energy solutions, and climate resilience technologies.

This shift suggests a maturing thesis, where family capital is beginning to back ventures that combine commercial viability with urgent developmental need.

Gaps in Scale and Retention
Despite early interest, family office participation is often short-lived. Of the 316 families entering the impact space in 2021, only 64 remained active by 2024. Deals are also heavily weighted toward the seed stage (66%), with limited support during the critical scaling phases.

Fund managers surveyed report small-ticket, exploratory cheques, often driven by personal relationships rather than strategic allocation. Repeat participation is rare, limiting the ability of climate ventures to secure consistent long-term backing.

Agriculture and Other Sectors Left Behind
While climate-tech has attracted capital, the report warns that other sustainability-linked sectors such as agriculture remain underfunded. Agriculture accounted for 10% of deals but only 9% of value, despite its vital role in India’s climate resilience and food security.

Barriers to Greater Participation
The report identifies several challenges holding back deeper engagement:
– Information asymmetry: families are unclear on what qualifies as impact investing vs ESG or philanthropy.
– Siloed capital pools: philanthropy and investing are managed separately.
– Preference for direct deals: families lean toward visible, familiar sectors, limiting diversified fund participation.
– Low awareness of blended finance: only 1 in 17 families surveyed had explored such structures.

Way Forward
To unlock larger flows of capital into climate and sustainability ventures, the report recommends:
– Defining clear impact theses tied to measurable climate goals.
– Using CSR capital in blended finance models to de-risk investments.
– Leveraging platforms like the Social Stock Exchange for transparency and traceability.
– Building internal capacity within family offices to manage sustainability portfolios.

For India’s climate transition to succeed, family offices must move beyond curiosity and become consistent partners in building sustainable businesses at scale.