ANDE, in partnership with the IKEA Foundation, is announcing the second round of grantees for the Waste & Circularity Investment Innovation Fund (IIF), advancing our mission to increase access to finance for small and growing businesses (SGBs) in the waste management and circular economy sectors in India.
Meet the Round 2 Grantees
Climake – Climate Asset Finance Readiness Program
Climake will launch a tailored readiness program for two key groups in the circular economy:
- Product manufacturers (e.g., waste sorting machine providers) who need customer-side asset finance to make their equipment more affordable and accessible.
- Asset users (e.g., recyclers, biomining firms) who need enterprise-side asset finance to purchase machinery essential for operations.
By building the financial and operational capacity of these SGBs and cultivating a curated network of asset finance lenders, Climake aims to both increase lender appetite for the sector and catalyze real-time financing opportunities. This pilot builds on Climake’s expertise in structuring innovative financing models and is intended to evolve into a scalable asset finance platform tailored to circular economy ventures.
Villgro – Scaling Waste Management & Circularity SGBs through Blended Finance
Villgro in partnership with Socratus Foundation will run an 18-month program to help eight SGBs—already piloting innovative waste and circularity solutions with government partners—move from early-stage pilots to scalable, investment-ready ventures. The program combines:
- Tailored acceleration support to strengthen operational and financial models.
- Innovative finance interventions, including a First Loss Default Guarantee pilot with Waste Management Enterprises to unlock debt capital.
- Curated matchmaking to connect enterprises with aligned public and private sector stakeholders.
By targeting government adoption pathways, Villgro aims to create a more enabling ecosystem for circularity-focused innovations and demonstrate the catalytic role blended finance can play for early-stage impact ventures.
Why This Matters
Financing is the lifeline of innovation—and without it, even the most promising waste and circularity solutions remain small-scale. By directly engaging lenders, piloting blended finance mechanisms, and strengthening SGB readiness, this second round of IIF grants is designed to close the financing gap that has long stifled the sector.
Through these targeted programs, we are not just supporting individual enterprises—we are helping to shape a thriving circular economy in India, one where entrepreneurs can grow, investors can find viable opportunities, and environmental solutions can reach the scale our planet urgently needs.
Building on a Strong Foundation
In 2021, ANDE and the IKEA Foundation set out to strengthen green entrepreneurial ecosystems in India and Kenya—two countries already facing significant climate adaptation challenges. By convening donors, investors, enterprise support organizations, policymakers, and entrepreneurs, we identified the opportunities and barriers shaping the growth of green SGBs.
Four foundational research studies revealed a striking truth: while the waste and circularity sector offers massive market potential—valued at $823.2 billion in India and $53.9 billion in Kenya—it remains severely underfunded. Investors cited limited confidence in business models, a shortage of investment-ready enterprises, and insufficient policy support as major barriers to scaling sustainable solutions.
In 2024, we launched the second phase of our work to bridge these gaps—unlocking financing for waste and circularity ventures, strengthening the pipeline of investment-ready enterprises, and building a more enabling ecosystem for circular solutions.
The IIF is designed to empower entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs) to create targeted interventions—developed in consultation with investors—that address barriers to investment and accelerate capital deployment in the waste and circularity sectors.
These interventions are not one-size-fits-all; they respond to the needs of early-stage enterprises, the expectations of investors, and the unique market conditions in India and Kenya. Our goal is simple but ambitious: equip more SGBs to secure the capital they need, scale impactful innovations, and create quality jobs in the green economy.