In a landmark vote of confidence for climate-resilient investing, Mandala Capital announced that the Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved the Mandala Capital SSEA Food Fund as an anchor investor, committing $ 36 million to accelerate climate adaptation across South and Southeast Asia’s agrifood economies. The approval, granted at the GCF’s 43rd Board Meeting, positions Mandala’s $ 250 million blended finance vehicle at the forefront of regional efforts to protect food systems from deepening climate shocks.

Agriculture remains the economic backbone of the region, contributing 13 per cent of GDP and supporting over one-third of its population. Despite its importance, the sector has historically suffered from underinvestment in climate resilience — even as rising temperatures, water scarcity, and extreme weather events threaten to reduce crop yields by up to 20 per cent in the coming decades. For millions of smallholders, who are simultaneously the first to experience climate damage and the last to receive capital, adaptation is becoming a race against time.

Mandala Capital is determined to rewrite that financial script. With GCF’s concessional capital serving as a de-risking foundation, the SSEA Food Fund aims to crowd in significant private investment by demonstrating that adaptation can deliver commercial returns. The model blends climate ambition with investment discipline: channel capital toward profitable, scalable agrifood enterprises that improve productivity, stabilize supply chains, combat food loss and waste, and deliver more nutrient-dense diets — all while building the resilience of the rural communities that underpin food security.

“For years, we’ve heard that private finance is difficult to mobilize for climate adaptation. Today, Mandala Capital and the GCF are proving otherwise,” said Demetrio Innocenti, Climate and Gender Specialist at Mandala Capital. He emphasized that the fund’s success will be measured not only in investment multiples but also in strengthened livelihoods for thousands of rural households across Asia’s climate frontlines.

The Philippines government welcomed the commitment as a breakthrough in climate-smart capital flows. According to Joven Balbosa, Undersecretary at the Philippines National Designated Authority, the partnership demonstrates how blended finance can push the private sector into action and ensure that deployment reaches both high-growth agrifood innovators and the communities most exposed to climate risk.

Mandala Capital’s strategy reflects rising protein demand, persistent malnutrition, frequent price spikes, and chronic inefficiencies plaguing agri markets from India to Indonesia. By supporting small and medium enterprises that drive resilience — whether through improved cold chains, climate-smart inputs, data intelligence, or post-harvest innovation — the fund aims to support more than 12 million people across the region. The target is not incremental climate “tweaks,” but structural transformation in how food is grown, moved, and consumed.

Founder and Managing Partner Uday Garg noted that Mandala’s credibility rests on local experience and execution strength. With 15 years of operations in Asia and successful exits from 80 per cent of the portfolio across its first two funds, the team has demonstrated that delivering farmer impact can go hand-in-hand with investor value creation. GCF’s participation, he added, reinforces the climate thesis and provides the catalytic financial structure needed to unlock private capital at scale.

Kavita Sinha, Director of the GCF’s Private Sector Facility, underscored the alignment with GCF’s mission to build sustainable and resilient livelihoods. The program’s blended finance architecture is designed to endure well beyond grant cycles, embedding climate readiness into the region’s investment DNA.

With GCF’s anchor financing secured, Mandala Capital is now advancing capital mobilization for the remainder of its $ 250 million fund. As climate disruption intensifies across rice bowls, spice belts, and seafood supply chains, the stakes grow sharper: adaptation is no longer an optional upgrade to food systems, but the price of their survival.

The Mandala Capital SSEA Food Fund signals a new era — where resilience is seen not as a cost, but as a catalyst for growth.