Plain tales of green entrepreneurship

A volume of startup tales in India can often be shallow, thinly disguised hagiographies offering no real insights or useful information.

- PROSENJIT DATTA

They can also leave you wondering about the choice of startups. India's Green Start Ups avoids that trap, largely. The authors—Jayant Sinha, former Union minister of state for finance, and Sandiip Bhammer, founder and managing partner of Green Frontier Capital—have taken great care to select some excellent green startups.

The selection process—which they outline in their introduction—is multistage and rigorous. From a very large universe of startups that have green credentials and are building businesses by solving environmental issues, the authors use a number of clear parameters—including total addressable market, climate impact potential, technology and innovation, business model and economics—apart from the founding team's credentials to winnow it down to the first shortlist. This is followed by a more active screening phase with even a closer examination of even more parameters to further shorten the list. As a result, one can be sure that the startups that made the final cut are most likely to succeed in the long run and create meaningful impact over the long term. They focus on not just the "green" bit but also on "entrepreneurship" and the necessity to scale up and create a successful impact.