Smart water treatment systems provider INDRA has raised $4 million in a Series A round led by early-stage venture fund Mela Ventures and Zurich-based cleantech fund Emerald Technology Ventures. The round also saw participation from Peak Sustainability Ventures and The Climate Angels.
Launched in 2017 by Amrit Om Nayak and Krunal Patel, the startup focuses on the problem of water treatment in the industrial and sewage segment with its patented electro-chemical oxidation and coagulation process. According to the company, its technology leverages ionic reactions to remove pollutants – including unwanted substances, heavy metals, suspended solids, phosphorus, fats, oil, grease, pathogens and dissolved organics among others from wastewater.
Amrit Om Nayak, Co-Founder and CEO, INDRA,said, “Solving the wastewater treatment challenge needs continuous innovation and relentless commitment. I am very excited that Mela Ventures shares the same passion for sustainable solutions. This partnership gives us a lot of conviction to confidently pursue and deliver on our promise to drive the world’s transition towards sustainable water management.”
INDRA’s plug-and-play water treatment solution, which takes 90 per cent less space compared to existing solutions and recovers up to 99 per cent of the treated water, is currently focusing on industrial effluents from textiles, steel manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals, and sewage from hotels and commercial properties.
The size of the opportunity for companies like INDRA is also significant. A 2022 Frost & Sullivan report noted that the Indian water and wastewater treatment market will grow to $2.08 billion by 2025 from $1.31 billion in 2020 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.7 per cent. The report positioned India as the sixth-largest market for environmental technologies in the world.
“Our investment in INDRA aligns well with sustainability, which is one of our key investment focus themes. Waste water treatment is a pressing problem demanding urgent global attention. I am very excited as INDRA solves this challenge comprehensively with minimal infrastructure and space requirements in a sustainable manner,” said N. Krishnakumar, Managing Partner at Mela Ventures.
Importantly, the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) under the Ministry of Science and Technology had partnered with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in November to align its Access to Knowledge for Technology Development and Dissemination (A2K+) Studies scheme with India’s Smart Cities Mission and its commitment to becoming a net-zero emitter by 2070.
DSIR had awarded two research studies to TERI with the intent to bridge the information gap on advanced building materials and building design for achieving energy efficiency and to make a status and scoping report on membrane-based sewage wastewater treatment systems for reuse and recycling.