XL Ventures Pte Ltd, a Singapore-headquartered climate tech focused company, has received In-Principle Approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to perform licensed Venture Capital Fund Manager (VCFM) activities in Singapore.
XL Ventures said in a statement on Friday that the firm plans to partner closely with a select number of early-stage companies, providing hands-on support to help them establish operations and scale in Asia.
The firm will also foster partnerships with large local conglomerates to enable market access and distribution.
Founded by Amit Sharma and Saroj Mishra, the firm aims to invest in and promote tech startups that use data, sensors, and artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize energy consumption in commercial buildings and power infrastructure — sectors with significant potential for decarbonization.
“All climate technologies required to save the planet already exist; the missing piece is rapid global scaling,
“While breakthrough innovations like fusion and new materials will be critical in the long term, we believe software and AI offer immediate and scalable tools to optimize complex, energy-intensive systems that currently run in silos with excessive safety margins,” said Sharma and Mishra.
They added that XL Ventures is particularly focused on technologies that are ready for deployment and can deliver measurable impact at scale.
“Corporates want to improve the bottom line and returns.” the founders noted.
“Technologies that solve real business problems from day one will see strong adoption. When they also deliver climate benefits, it’s a win-win,
“Energy efficiency and consumption optimization are cross-sector needs where immediate impact is possible — commercially and environmentally,” they added.
They see significant opportunities for European tech startups in the efficiency and smart-tech space.
“They fit well with the government and private sector agenda in Singapore, India and other Asian economies,” said the founders.
“We are currently helping several UK based startups to get traction in these markets,
“While the US was the obvious scaling market for them in the past, the focus has now firmly shifted to Asia and to some extent the large GCC economies who have similar agenda,” they added.
Amit Sharma, based in Singapore, previously served as Global Head of Business Development (Digital) for Tech Mahindra, the information technology (IT) services arm of Mahindra Group.
Saroj Mishra, based in London, co-founded Tazapay, a series A cross-border business to business (B2B) payments company funded by Peak XV, RTP Global, Paypal and others, and Bayfront Capital Advisors, a Singapore based corporate finance advisory practice.