ESV Times | Monthly Newsletter | May 2024
We are pleased to share the first edition of our revamped Newsletter. New sections have been added to bring depth and nuance about the work we do, and why we do. I hope your readership and constructive engagement shall continue unabated. In this edition I would like to discuss potential in the alternate solar power generation space.
The most common ground mounted solar power plant typically requires 4.5 acres of land for 1MW of power. One of the major challenges in ground mounted solar plants has been the availability and acquisition of contiguous land which should be relatively non-undulating and without construction.
One of the recent innovations to circumvent non-availability of land is to create solar plants on water bodies, commonly referred as floating solar. As a unique feat of engineering, the solar panels are mounted on specially designed floaters which are anchored to the base of the water body.
The technology has potential to scale since there are over 22,000 lakes, 14 lac+ ponds, and over 2.9 lac+ reservoirs in India as per the water bodies census conducted by the Jal Shakti Ministry in 2023. Over 67,000 enumerated water bodies have a ‘water spread area’ of over 5 hectares. A 5 hectare area would translate to solar power generation capacity of ~3MW. Less than 1% of the available water bodies are being used in the generation of solar power. Hence, it is a white space open for innovative companies to conquer.
At Ecosytem Ventures, we are closely following the developments in the floating solar space. We believe in the transformational power of technology and human ingenuity to solve complex problems for the betterment of our collective future.
Ecotone – Podcast of ESV
Abhishek Sanghvi in conversation with Vaibhav Puranik
Vaibhav Puranik, IIM A grad with a unique experience of building 4 unicorns in his professional journey, engages in a fireside chat exploring fintech trends in the USA and India. Gain insights into key areas like payment technology, consumer credit, open banking, wealth management, and discover how collaborative ecosystems support startup successes.
Startup 101 – Resources for founders & startup teams
Project Management 101
Founder bandwidth is the most critical resource for an early-stage startup.
Founder bandwidth is more expensive or scarce than access to capital. It might sound counterintuitive but rigorous prioritization and management of founders’ time is essential to make or break the venture in the initial stages. Hence, project management processes are essential.
Project management best practices and weekly/monthly reviews should not be limited to large companies or organizations. An early-stage team can increase productivity by defining their project reporting cadence. There are many tools, basic to highly sophisticated ones, for project tracking and management. Before the revenue and team size expansion, warrants investing in a project management, it is advisable to use context-specific spreadsheets for keeping track of deliverables and tasks.
In this section, we want to share resources and insights which either expands the thinking of startups to make them future ready or help them to be more productive.
Deal of the Month
India’s most valuable cleantech venture
With FY24 revenue of ₹34Cr, confirmed order-book of ₹60 Cr to close FY25 revenue in the range of ₹120 – ₹150 Cr, proven track record of 15 successful projects amounting to 62 MW of power capacity addition, an IP repository of 18 secured patents in the specialized floating solar technology, Quant Solar is set to command leadership position to provide innovative solutions and solar capacity addition on water bodies in India and abroad.
The stellar founder team of Pankaj & Siddhant (IIT Kharagpur grads, with 20+ yrs. global experience in marine engineering, salvage ops, floating technologies) are creating a dent in the huge untapped market opportunity (280 GW just in India alone) of floating solar capacity addition.
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Net Present Value – Performance of ESV Portfolio Companies
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