Shell Foundation
FoundationLondon · Pre-Seed–Growth · 57 people tracked
Investment thesis
Shell Foundation grounds its work in the needs of people earning less than a net living wage, focusing on three groups: smallholder farmers on under five acres, movers of people and goods aspiring to electric vehicles, and micro-enterprise owners. It de-risks new technologies and markets, drives innovation towards scale, and partners with proven industry leaders to scale commercial, income-generating clean energy solutions. The foundation embeds gender intentionality across its operations to increase access to products, resources and finance for women and entrepreneurs. It leverages its charitable status to find and scale clean energy technologies reaching millions of people in Africa and Asia.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.
Team · 57 people
from the firm's website & curatedWhat they invest in
from 25 of 65 portfolio companiesCleantech ×16Energy ×13Impact & Social Good ×12Climate Tech ×10AgTech ×9Fintech ×9Logistics & Supply Chain ×5AI & Machine Learning ×3
HQs:India×4Kenya×3South Africa×3Nigeria×2United States×2Switzerland×1
Investments · 65 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2026 · 12023 · 12 dated
Trane Technologies is a global manufacturer of heating, cooling, and thermal management systems for commercial, residential, and transport applications, with a focus on energy efficiency and emissions reduction.
Advanced ManufacturingCleantechClimate Tech
InspiraFarms Cooling provides cold chain infrastructure and cooling technology solutions to African agribusinesses, farmers, and exporters to reduce food losses and improve access to higher-value markets.
Advanced ManufacturingAgTechCleantechClimate TechFoodTechLogistics & Supply Chain
Co-investorsKawiSafi VenturesPymwymicE3 Capital
AFEX facilitates capital flows for commodity traders, processors, and manufacturers through financial instruments including repos, asset-backed commercial paper, and trade finance notes.
AgTechB2B MarketplacesFintech
Co-investorsConsonance Investment Managers
Ampersand builds electric motorcycles, battery packs, swap stations, and AmperOps fleet management software for motorcycle taxi (boda) drivers in Africa, operating a battery-swapping network for commercial e-motos.
CleantechEnergyMobility & Transportation
Co-investorsBeyond CapitalBeyond Capital VenturesEcosystem Integrity FundFactor[e] VenturesAlphaMundi GroupFlagship Pioneering+1 more
Catalyst (now part of Totango) provides customer growth solutions for customer success and sales teams to drive revenue growth.
SaaS
Co-investorsAccelBlink ImpactGeneral CatalystSpeedinvest
Co-investorsCeniarthElea Foundation for Ethics in GlobalizationBeyond Capital
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a philanthropic organization that funds research, programs, and initiatives addressing global health, development, and education challenges, particularly affecting low-income populations in developing countries.
AgTechEdTechHealthtechImpact & Social GoodSeattle, US
Bill GatesMelinda French Gates
Hamara Grid develops and operates solar mini-grids in rural areas of India, serving underserved communities with renewable energy access and productive use of energy services.
CleantechEnergyImpact & Social GoodIoTKolkata, IN
Vijay(Managing Director)Sudeshna(Operations Director)Tiakala Ao(Director)
BoardRebecca Symington(Director)
Havenhill Synergy Limited is a clean-tech utility company that generates electricity using solar energy for urban and rural areas across Africa, supporting the continent's infrastructure development.
CleantechClimate TechEnergy
Inficold designs and manufactures refrigeration and cold-chain systems that pair energy-efficient cooling with thermal energy storage and solar integration for temperature-sensitive products.
AgTechCleantechEnergy
Co-investorsRajasthan Venture Capital Fund
Intellecap is the advisory arm of the Aavishkaar Group, providing business consulting and investment banking services to support underserved markets across Asia and Africa.
AgTechClimate TechEnterprise SoftwareFintechImpact & Social GoodNot explicitly stated, IN
Vineet Chandra Rai(Founder and Vice Chairman Aavishkaar Group)
Jaza operates a decentralized solar-powered energy network across Sub-Saharan Africa, recharging batteries at local systems to power homes and businesses in off-grid communities.
CleantechEnergyImpact & Social Good
Sebastian Manchester(Founder)in
Co-investorsCeniarthEast Valley VenturesValhalla VenturesNew Brunswick Innovation Foundation
M-KOPA offers smartphones through a deposit-and-installment payment model that lets customers build a credit history and unlock digital loans, health cover, device protection, and data bundles.
ConsumerEnergyFintechImpact & Social GoodKilimani, Nairobi, KE
Jesse Moore(Executive Officer, Director)inNicholas Hughes(Executive Officer, Director)Chad Larson(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardArun Gore(Director)Oliver Karius(Director)Colin le Duc(Director)
Co-investorsAHL Venture PartnersAutodesk FoundationBlue Haven InitiativeBroadscaleLauder PartnersSBI Ven Capital+3 more
MAX is a mobility fintech platform that provides financial services, vehicle ownership solutions, and support services to informal transport operators across Africa.
B2B MarketplacesCleantechClimate TechFintechLogistics & Supply ChainMobility & TransportationLagos, NG
Co-investorsAlitheia CapitalBreakthrough Energy VenturesGoodwell InvestmentsOlive Tree CapitalWaarde CapitalNovastar Ventures
Mufin Green Finance provides green financing solutions for electric vehicles in India, positioning itself as a pioneer in climate-focused lending within the EV ecosystem.
CleantechClimate TechEnergyFintechImpact & Social Good
Nithio provides a risk analytics engine and AI models that assess household-level credit risk, structure financing, and monitor portfolio and impact performance for climate solutions.
AI & Machine LearningCleantechClimate TechEnergyFintechImpact & Social GoodWashington, US
Hela Cheikhrouhou(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardBobby J. Pittman(Director)inQueen Nworisara-Quinn(Director)
Co-investorsKupanda CapitalElevar EquityEmerson Collective Investing
OmniHub is a distribution management platform for product distributors in Africa that connects them with retailers through a unified ordering and visibility system.
AI & Machine LearningB2B MarketplacesE-commerceEnterprise SoftwareFintechLogistics & Supply ChainRetail TechSaaSJohannesburg, ZA
Co-investorsGoodwell InvestmentsVentures PlatformAlitheia CapitalAruwa CapitalNorfund
Altech is a distributor of solar lamps in the Democratic Republic of Congo that provides off-grid energy access to households and institutions.
AgTechAI & Machine LearningCleantechClimate TechEnergyImpact & Social GoodDemocratic Republic of Congo, CH
responsAbility is an impact investment firm that sources, structures, and manages investments in emerging markets across three themes: financial inclusion for micro and small enterprises, climate finance for net-zero pathways, and sustainable food systems.
Climate TechFintechImpact & Social Good
Co-investorsAHL Venture Partners
Co-investorsADB Ventures
Sav Circuit manufactures solar-powered cold chain equipment for smallholder farmers in Africa, offering hybrid milk chillers and related cooling products to help preserve perishable goods and improve agricultural value chains.
AgTechCircular EconomyCleantechImpact & Social GoodLogistics & Supply Chain
SIMA is an impact investment fund manager that creates and manages funds bringing together institutional, impact, and development finance investors to back double-bottom-line businesses in renewable energy, affordable housing, and financial inclusion.
EnergyFintechImpact & Social Good
Asad Mahmood(CEO)
Sistema.bio manufactures prefabricated, modular tubular biodigesters that convert animal dung into biogas for small and medium-sized farms.
AgTechCleantechClimate TechEnergyMexico City
Alexander Eaton(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)inCamilo Pagés(Founder)in
BoardThibault Couturier(Director)Liesbet Mijlemans(Director)inMarcus Watson(Director)inJoyce Cacho(Director)
Co-investorsDila CapitalFactor[e] VenturesNovastar Ventures
SunCulture provides off-grid solar-powered irrigation pump systems that give smallholder farmers access to water, irrigation, lighting, and mobile charging, sold with a pay-as-you-grow installment option.
AgTechCleantechEnergyNairobi, KE
Co-investorsE3 CapitalEquatorPrivate Infrastructure Development Group
Fights extreme poverty in India by investing in businesses creating dignified jobs.
Co-investorsAutodesk Foundation
Zypp Electric is an India-based EV rental platform that rents electric scooters and loaders to gig-economy delivery workers, providing IoT-enabled vehicles, battery-swapping infrastructure, and 24/7 support.
CleantechLogistics & Supply ChainMobility & Transportation
Co-investorsChakra Growth FundDholakia VenturesLVX VenturesRiso CapitalSprint VcSupermorpheus+5 more
Exits · 2
IPOs and acquisitions across the tracked portfolioTrane TechnologiesNYSE: TTCatalystacq. by Totango
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companies
Catalyst · coinpedia.org · Aug 10, 2026
Zypp Electric · whalesbook.com · Jul 28, 2026
Ampersand · techinafrica.com · Aug 15, 2025
Omniretail · techcrunch.com · Apr 28, 2025
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has Shell Foundation made?
- Shell Foundation has 63 tracked investments.
- What stage does Shell Foundation invest at?
- Shell Foundation invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C, Growth stages.
- What sectors does Shell Foundation focus on?
- Shell Foundation focuses on AgTech, Cleantech, Climate Tech, Energy, Fintech, Impact & Social Good, Mobility & Transportation.
- Where is Shell Foundation located?
- Shell Foundation is headquartered in London, GB.
- Who does Shell Foundation co-invest with?
- Shell Foundation most often shares deals with AHL Venture Partners, Autodesk Foundation, Ceniarth, among 33 tracked co-investors.
Media · Podcasts & interviews
featuring the teamClimate Investing Track Keynote by Jonathan Berman, Chief Executive Officer, Shell Foundation
Impact Investors Council (IIC) · Jonathan Berman
Images
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