Transition VC Research
Investment Thesis
Transition VC bills itself as India's first venture capital fund dedicated exclusively to the energy transition. Founded in 2022 by Raiyaan Shingati and Mohammed Shoeb Ali, the firm backs engineering-led, early-stage companies building the technologies that will power, move, build, and secure India's next energy era. The founding thesis is that India is uniquely positioned to lead a structural shift in how the world generates and consumes energy, and that the biggest opportunities sit in the "missing middle" - companies with proven technical feasibility and early commercial traction that have not yet reached product-market fit. With the launch of Fund II, the firm is broadening from pure energy plays into the wider industrial and deep-tech value chain, including advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, geothermal, and nuclear-adjacent technologies, while continuing to back companies that manufacture in India for global export markets.
Sector Focus
The core portfolio spans:
- Energy storage (batteries, thermal storage)
- Green hydrogen and electrolyzer technology
- Clean/electric mobility and power electronics (motors, drives, converters)
- Industrial decarbonization (waste-heat recovery, heat pumps, carbon capture and utilization)
- Renewable operations and asset management (wind O&M, smart-grid/utility software)
- Autonomous robotics and drones for agriculture and industrial inspection
- Data center and electronics hardware
- Regenerative agriculture / carbon markets
- Fund II adds: advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, geothermal, and nuclear-related technologies
Stage Focus
Transition VC invests primarily at Seed and Series A, occasionally stepping in at Pre-Seed or Pre-Series A for exceptional deep-tech teams, and participates in later follow-on rounds (e.g., Series B) for existing portfolio companies. The firm explicitly targets the "missing middle" - post-technical-proof, pre-PMF companies - rather than pure R&D or late-growth rounds.
Check Size
Typical investment range is USD $2M-$5M per company (confirmed for Fund II), consistent with observed activity of ~$2.2M-$2.6M average seed rounds and ~$4M-$8.6M average Series A checks. The firm frequently leads or co-leads rounds.
Lead Tendency
Transition VC leads or co-leads the large majority of its disclosed rounds - WorkOnGrid, HYDGEN, SUIND, Matel Motion's Series A, Intrinsic Foundries, CIMware, and Promethean Energy were all led by the firm, typically alongside smaller strategic, academic (IIMA Ventures, CIIE Initiatives), or family-office co-investors. It also participates as a minority follow-on investor in later rounds of existing portfolio companies, as with Matel's August 2026 Series B led by UC Impower.
Recent Activity
Fund I (Rs 700 crore / ~$77M) held its oversubscribed final close in December 2025 at Rs 723 crore, nearly doubling its original Rs 400 crore target, after backing 17+ startups since 2022, and generated an IRR of 57% with a MOIC over 3x within three years. On July 21, 2026 the firm launched Fund II, targeting Rs 1,500 crore (~$155M) - more than double Fund I - to write $2M-$5M checks into roughly 20-23 engineering-led hardware and industrial companies over a four-year deployment period beginning Q3 FY27. Fund II broadens the sector remit to include semiconductors, nuclear, and geothermal alongside the existing energy-transition focus. Deployment has continued steadily through mid-2026: Intrinsic Foundries (February 2026), WorkOnGrid's funding round (April 7, 2026), a new seed lead into agriculture-drone startup SUIND (August 2026), and a follow-on participation in Matel's Rs 130 crore Series B led by UC Impower (August 2026).
Portfolio Highlights
The portfolio spans 19+ companies across the energy, industrial, and robotics stack: Emo Energy (immersion-cooled battery packs), Fitsol (carbon accounting SaaS), Protonas (PEM fuel cells), Matel Motion & Energy Solutions (EV drive systems, later raised a Rs 130 crore Series B led by UC Impower), Comminent (RF mesh for smart metering), CIMware (composable data-center infrastructure for AI workloads, founded by an ex-Google CloudSimple India lead), Promethean Energy (industrial waste-heat recovery), Dynolt (power conversion for EV/renewables), GreenFi (AI-driven ESG risk analytics), HYDGEN (AEM electrolyzers for green hydrogen), GreenTech MW (wind asset O&M), Intrinsic Foundries (carbon-to-value biomanufacturing), WorkOnGrid (AI-native utility operations platform), Prithu (regenerative-agriculture carbon credits), ZeroDrag (drone flight controllers), Helionis Labs (thermal substrates for electronics), Albatross Energetics (liquid-desiccant industrial cooling), EarthEn (sCO2 thermal battery storage), and SUIND (autonomous agriculture and inspection drones, DGCA-certified Bumblebee spraying drone, Rs 20.5 Cr seed round August 2026).
Team
- Raiyaan Shingati - Co-Founder & Managing Partner
- Mohammed Shoeb Ali - Co-Founder & Managing Partner
- Shantanu Chaturvedi - Partner
- Gaurav Patil - VP, Investments
- Manasvi Patel - VP, Marketing and Communications
- Venkata Krishna - VP, Capital Formation
- Yashodhara Bakliwal - VP, Portfolio Investments
- Stenson Sajee - Director, Investor Relations
The firm also maintains a bench of named sector experts and advisors who support technical diligence on deep-tech deals.
Decision Process
Investment decisions appear to run through a partnership structure with two co-founding managing partners plus a dedicated VP-level investment team (Investments, Portfolio Investments, Capital Formation), rather than a solo-GP model. Partner Shantanu Chaturvedi has publicly framed the firm's diligence approach around three factors: technology readiness for commercial adoption, team execution capability, and market timing.
Founder Preferences
Transition VC favors engineering-led founding teams solving hard technical problems in energy, industrial hardware, and robotics/autonomy - several portfolio founders come from deep technical or operating backgrounds (e.g., CIMware's founder previously led CloudSimple India, acquired by Google; SUIND's founders include a University of Zurich robotics researcher). The firm explicitly seeks founders building for both domestic deployment and global/export manufacturing.
Geographic Focus
Headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, with an overwhelmingly India-focused portfolio (18 of 19 recent investments); a small number of deals extend to Singapore. Portfolio companies are expanding internationally (Japan, Europe, Middle East, Southeast Asia) as they scale, and Fund II is intended to help portfolio companies manufacture in India for global markets.