With the hot weather and dust storms raging, residents of the National Capital Region (NCR) have been hit with a double whammy this week. Staying indoors during the extreme outdoor pollution appears to be the only option, but frankly, it’s not advisable to leave your air purifier on all day – doctors warn the machine may actually aggravate many of the health issues, such as headaches, sore throat, coughing you hoped it would solve. UBreathe, a biotech startup, has come up with a unique solution—plant-based air purifiers.
This Gurgaon-based firm provides sustainable and green solutions for cleaner air while tackling a larger spectrum of air pollutants. There are three natural air purifiers for your home and office—UBreathe Mini (Rs 4,237), UBreathe Life (Rs 33,898) and nature-inspired and HEPA-free, wall mounted, modular air purifier—UBreathe Wall (prices depend on the size of the wall).
UBreathe purifies the air from all contaminants like suspended particulate matter and other toxic gasses categorised as total volatile organic compounds (TVOC). Its purifiers combine the natural air purifying capabilities of plants with modern technology. As such, the proprietary design boosts a plant’s natural process of removing pollutants from the air with improved soil breathability.
How does it work?
“Our Breathing Roots technology harnesses the natural air purification method of plants supplemented with the laws of physics,” says Sanjay Maurya, CEO and co-founder, UBreathe. He stresses the company’s unique design boosts the phytoremediation process of plants by 500x with the help of a centrifugal fan. This increases the volume of air at the soil-root zone, enabling the root microbiomes to interact with more air and purifying the same.
How long does it take UBreathe to clean a room? “It depends on the room size and air circulation conditions but in normal cases you can expect 30 minutes to 2 hours for UBreathe air purifier to clean a room,” Maurya claims. Can the air purifier run all the time? “If you’re concerned about energy usage, you are in luck—UBreathe air purifiers only require 1/5th of the energy consumed by traditional ones,” he adds.
UBreathe’s approach to air purification sets it apart from conventional systems, as it utilises only bio-filtration techniques. This not only results in no recurring need for filter replacements, but also provides a sustainable solution with zero carbon footprint. The startup’s patent-pending Breathing Roots technology is designed to boost a plant’s natural process of removing pollutants from the air with improved soil breathability.
Origin of the idea
Incubated at IIT Ropar, UBreathe was established in 2018 by Sanjay Maurya, Akhil Gupta, Akshay Goyal, and Inderjeet Rao—a diverse team of graduates from IIT, IIM, Harvard, and MIT Media Labs with a cumulative experience of over 35 years in tech-innovation, design, and entrepreneurship. They came together with a vision to build a world-class consumer product from India to tackle air pollution, while being environmentally friendly and sustainable. “Our research is backed by premier institutes such as IIT Ropar, CIIE.CO IIM Ahmedabad, ministry of electronics & IT, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), among others. We have filed six patents in India and Europe,” says Maurya.
Having spent all of their lives in urban cities such as Delhi, Kanpur and Lucknow, the co-founders of UBreathe understood the menace of the air pollution issue. Since inception, UBreathe has added 1000+ users who now have the company’s air purifiers in their homes and offices. More recently, the startup has taken up marquee projects for wider social impact. Some of the projects include air quality management projects with the UN House Delhi, government of Maharashtra, public primary schools in Chennai.
UBreathe foresees a future where people understand that maintaining healthy air quality is both collective and individual responsibility. The company wants to create a future where everyone has sustainable means and solutions to maintain a healthy air quality indoors, especially in urban areas.