Climate-Tech & Deep-Tech Investor × AI
AnubhavDas
I underwrite first-of-a-kind climate-tech innovation and infrastructure, and build the AI systems that speed the diligence behind it. Currently: commercial-scale eSAF at Zaffra, the Sasol–Topsoe joint venture, Berlin.
Read the writing →Working at the intersection of
capital & code.
I underwrite first-of-a-kind climate-tech innovation and infrastructure. Right now that means commercial-scale Fischer-Tropsch power-to-liquid eSAF at Zaffra, the Sasol–Topsoe joint venture in Berlin: owning market and commercial intelligence across the full value chain, from green hydrogen to CO₂ to synthesis to airline demand, and turning it into the numbers the Executive Committee allocates capital against.
The craft is full-cycle: origination, techno-economic analysis, GHG life-cycle assessment, Investment Committee, portfolio. Across a decade and six funds I've screened 800+ deals and taken 20 through to IC approval. At Climate Endowment I co-led a $150M+ LP raise.
The second discipline is code. I lead firm-wide AI adoption at Zaffra: agentic research workflows, a company-wide web application, the AI usage & IP policy, a seven-week training programme.
Experience · 2016–2026
A decade in two languages: capital & code.
Own the TEA and GHG-LCA models that underwrite commercial-scale FOAK eSAF: levelised cost of fuel, unit economics, feedstock cost tracing, ticket-price impact by fleet archetype. Lead market intelligence across six verticals of the eSAF value chain, feeding ExCo capital allocation and multi-billion-euro grant applications across EU, Americas and APAC. Lead firm-wide AI adoption; co-lead the AI pilot; authored the AI usage & IP policy.
Drove financial and commercial due diligence for the Executive Committee across North America, EU and Asia on 3 investments, ~$3.5B total project value. Led underwriting on greenfield bPtL SAF in Sweden (~$1.6B), biogenic CO₂-to-SAF in Germany (~$700M), and a brownfield HEFA-to-jet acquisition in the US (~$1.2B). Authored investment theses for TRL 1–7 deep-tech.
Sourced and screened 400+ startups for a $50M+ MENA deep-tech VC fund (500 Startups spin-off); presented 18+ seed deals to IC, 6 approved; supported 24 portfolio companies.
Originated 45+ deals in renewables, storage, regenerative ag and forestry across EU, LatAm and ANZ; 12+ to IC, 8 approved at ~$15M average ticket from a $180M+ AUM fund backed by the Harvard Endowment, ERAFP and AP4. Underwrote via TEA and GHG-LCA; built the fund's investment processes, models and ESG scorecards; co-led a $150M+ LP raise; recruited and trained 3 analysts.
Co-led technical and financial diligence on 100+ energy, climate and MedTech companies for a $300M+ AUM grant-stage vehicle; authored TEA, GHG-LCA and diligence memos; 3 IC approvals.
Screened 50+ early-stage deals weekly for a $75M+ ESG VC fund; supported the diligence behind 4 IC-approved deals.
Sourced and screened a 200+ deal cleantech pipeline for a $130M+ AUM DACH climate VC; supported The Mobility House and NexWafe; contributed to a 72% cut in fund reporting turnaround.
Co-founded a B2B media-services venture: 32 cities, 18 FTEs, a 3,000+ vendor network; clients including Flipkart, Amazon, Uber and Oyo; ~$100K revenue in 300 days; founder exit via secondary stake sale. NDTV Startup to Watch, 2016.
Education
ESCP Business School, Paris & Berlin: MSc Management + MSc Finance · ESCP Merit Scholar, GMAT 710 (2018–2020)
BITS Pilani, India: BEng Chemical Engineering + MSc Biotechnology (2011–2016)
AI systems
Four systems,
in production.
All real, all internal, built inside the diligence function at Zaffra. Supported by the AI usage & IP policy and a seven-week firm-wide training programme. Detailed walkthroughs are available on request.
Request access →Two disciplines, one toolkit.
Climate capital.
AI systems.
Writing
Cost curves, written down.
The math behind the crisis-surcharge
Across five carriers, a line item labelled “fuel” came to hold a great deal more than fuel. The hedge-adjusted pass-through math, the 22-year ratchet, and where the argument can be challenged.
Read the essay →Energy sovereignty is a supply story, not a subsidy story
We had a regulation-backed alternative and every reason to believe the compliance stick would do the work. It did not. What closed the deal was security of supply, and that points at something more durable than any subsidy.
Read the essay →Beyond the desk
Angel portfolio
Nine early-stage climate and deep-tech companies, ~$15K deployed, independent diligence on each.
Published analysis
eSAF economics and FT power-to-liquid: TEA and scale-up cost curves translated into an investment thesis.
Languages
English & Hindi (native), Bengali & Odia (professional), German (A1), French (elementary).
Intake · 2010–2026
Fifteen years of what I paid attention to.
515 books, 9,264 people, 640 courses and 122 places, each one placed by the domain it belongs to and played back across fifteen years. Real records, names withheld. It runs in the browser, with sound.
Fly through it →Building or backing something first-of-a-kind?
EU Blue Card. I answer email about climate and deep-tech investing, first-of-a-kind underwriting, and AI inside diligence functions.
anubhavdas1993@gmail.com