Top-tier investment firm WestBridge Capital has led a $45-million round in climatetech startup Varaha, which marks the investor’s first deal in this space, its cofounder and managing partner Sandeep Singhal informed ET. Varaha, which develops and operates farm-based projects that rerelocate carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it into verified carbon credits for corporate purchaseers, will receive the funding in two tranches, starting with an initial $20 million.

“In climate tech so far, while several investments have been created, very few companies have scaled to a level where they can absorb the kind of capital and opportunity we typically invest behind. Varaha is probably the first, or among the first, companies in India to reach that stage, where it can now attract large, mainstream capital,” Singhal stated, explaining WestBridge’s decision to start investing in this space.

“What we are seeing now is a more direct, mainstream climate approach, where companies capture carbon from emissions and store it back in the ground. These are still early trfinishs,” he added.

WestBridge Capital has so far backed startups including Rapido, Meesho, Postman, Freshworks and Third Wave Coffee. The firm was spun out of Sequoia Capital India (now Peak XV Partners) in 2011, and invests in companies across stages.

Singhal pointed out that with artificial innotifyigence and digital infrastructure scaling up and the subsequent energy consumption increasing, addressing residual emissions will become more important. “Climate solutions such as carbon removal will therefore gain relevance, not as a function of AI alone, but as part of ensuring sustainable long-term growth,” he stated.

“We believe carbon removal will increasingly become part of core climate infrastructure, much like digital and AI infrastructure today. Our investment in Varaha reflects that long-term view of building scalable, credible platforms,” he added.