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Ecoforge: Aiding Clean Energy Sector through Advisory Services

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Ecoforge Advisors has worked with marquee clients such as Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Bangkok-based UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) despite being an early-stage advisory and consulting firm. UNCDF came up with a $1.5 million Challenge Fund for investing in early-stage clean energy ventures.

Ecoforge covers the entire spectrum of clean energy services ranging from solar/ wind/hydro power, utility scale renewable energy projects to small scale off grid installations in rural and urban areas

Ecoforge Advisors was tasked with building a pipeline of potential investees for this Challenge Fund evaluating their business plans, conducting due diligence, and structuring investment contracts with the selected ones. Ecoforge built a pipeline of 18 companies, out of which three companies got the funding. This is just one of the many success stories of Ecoforge. Other success stories include providing transaction advisory services to ADB on a $ 6 million debt investment made into a solar asset finance company in India, and providing transaction advisory services to a renewable energy independent power producer (IPP) based in Manila, Philippines.

Services Offered
Incorporated in 2011 by Sagar Gubbi & Anand Varadaraj (Co-Founders & Managing
Partners), Ecoforge Advisors aims to enable investors identify and invest in innovative projects & enterprises that have the potential to impact the triple bottom line (financial, social, and environmental impact). Starting its fulltime operations in early 2012 as a boutique investment advisory consulting firm, the company specializes in clean energy, energy efficiency and sustainability industries of India and other emerging markets of South East Asia, Central Asia, and East Africa. It covers the entire spectrum of clean energy services ranging from solar/wind/hydro power, utility scale renewable energy projects to small scale off grid installations in rural and urban areas. Through its core financial advisory service, Ecoforge advises companies structures investments in clean energy sector. It also has assisted governments, banks/financial institutions, and international development institutions on policy advisory, green finance/green credit lines, and market assessments.

The Uniqueness
There are striking similarities between the ecosystems, policies and regulatory systems in clean energy technology & infrastructure in India and other emerging markets of Asia and Africa, which provides this Bangalore-based company an upper hand compared to even its U.S. /UK competitors. "Our quality of work and the services we offer are our USPs. Whether it is the way we present our report , the language and the insights we use, the references and visualization, or the knowledge and advise that we include in our work is unique, and many of our
Sagar Gubbi,Co-Founder&Managing Partner

Sagar Gubbi

Co-Founder&Managing Partner

Western/Asia/African clients vouch on this uniqueness," discusses Sagar about the no-compromise on quality of its outputs policy of the company. Ecoforge offers all of these at a relatively lower price tag when compared to European and North American firms, thus, enabling clients to save around 20-30 percent of their cost.

Future Roadmap
Having served both private and government organizations, this bootstrapped startup now wishes to grab more private sector clients, commercial banks and micro-finance institutions in India, South East Asia and Central Asia to help them raise capital, green credit lines and develop investment strategies. It also intends to expand into data analytics space for clean energy and sustainability. Having achieved significant revenues and margins already, Ecoforge hopes to reach the million dollar revenue mark within the next three years. It also looks to establish offices in Mumbai and South East Asia, most likely in Singapore and aims to be recognized globally as the go-to advisory firm in the clean energy and sustainability space.