Uravu Labs, a water-tech startup based out of Bangalore has today announced raising a pre-Seed round of funding led by Speciale Invest, for building a new kind of 100 percent renewable water infrastructure. The company also saw participation from renowned angels and investors, Peter Yolles (EchoRiver Capital, US), Soren Schroder (US), Shigeru Sumimoto (Conselux Corporation, Japan), and Tomoki Kaneko (Kaneko Cord, Japan) in this round.
New infusion of capital
The new infusion of capital will be utilized to bolster the technology, strengthen the patent portfolio, scale operations, and accelerate opportunities for deploying field pilots.
Incepted in 2019 by Pardeep Garg, Swapnil Shrivastav, Venkatesh R, and Govinda Balaji, Uravu Labs is dedicated to building a new type of atmospheric water generator that is 100% renewable. Uravu Labs creates water from air using only renewable energy. This technology makes use of desiccants and is highly scalable and adaptable making it pluggable into various forms of renewable energy sources like solar, waste-heat, or biomass to produce 100% renewable water.
Dr. Pardeep Garg, Co-Founder, Uravu Labs said, “Today, many sectors are in the midst of a renewable revolution. For example, solar PV and wind help us go renewable in the electricity sector but we do not see any such option in the water sector. Uravu is bridging this gap by bringing a novel 100% renewable water technology option to the market.”
Garg earned his Masters and PhD from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and was a research fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the field of new energy systems.
Water-from-air concept
The water-from-air concept, while not new, conventionally uses a significant amount of electricity to harness water from air and electricity is not always generated from clean, renewable sources. In contrast, Uravu Labs uses a unique technology framework based on desiccant materials, it said in a press release. The advantage of shifting to desiccant-based technology is that water-from-air can be made 100 percent renewable. The company envisions multiple applications for its 100 percent renewable water based drinking water machines. Smaller capacity machines of 20-100 liters per day can see applications in the community spaces (urban and rural), office complexes, and apartment buildings. Larger capacity machines above 10,000 liters per day are poised to revolutionize the beverage sector.
Garg said, “Uravu will manufacture in India and help set India on the path of becoming a technology leader by bringing first-ever scalable and affordable 100% renewable technology in the much needed water space. "
Swapnil Shrivastav, Co-Founder, Uravu Labs said, "Water sector needs our immediate attention and the active support of investors, corporates, governments, and consumers alike. When we look at the beverage segment, we see transformation towards sustainable packaging. However, water, which is the main ingredient in beverage products, remains the same old non-renewable groundwater. "
“We are stoked to partner with the founders at Uravu, who are leveraging their strength in thermal and material sciences to build desiccant-based water harvesting solutions that are 100 percent renewable and carbon neutral. They are on a strong path to achieve price parity in the coming years as a result of their unique tech stack. This is our first of many to
come decarbonization and climate tech investments and we are excited for what the futureholds ahead,” said Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner, Speciale Invest.
