Express News Service
Bengaluru-based Uravu Labs makes use of expertise that actually converts air into water. According to the founders—Swapnil Shrivastav, Venkatesh R, Pardeep Garg and Govinda Balaji—, it’s only one of many two firms of 200 present ones on this planet the place the water thus produced is 100 per cent renewable. The different firm is Source Global from the US. Founded in 2019, Uravu Labs raised $2.3 million in a seed spherical from JITO Angel Network, Anicut Capital and Speciale Invest this March. Its invention, in spite of everything, is the necessity of the hour. With over 1.4 billion inhabitants, India has solely 4 per cent of the world’s freshwater assets. As the summers method, water shortage in most metros is an annual actuality. Unsurprisingly, local weather tech is the way in which ahead.
The course of was began in 2015, when Swapnil and Venkatesh had been learning B.Arch at NIT, Calicut, which confronted persistent water shortage. Driven by their ardour for sustainable expertise and social affect, the 2 classmates conceived the concept of creating an answer to deal with the problem. “Recognising the necessity for extra technical and enterprise experience, I reached out to a professor on the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, who launched us to his former scholar, Pardeep,” says 30-year-old Swapnil. The crew later onboarded Govinda, who they met via mutual associates.
“We use liquid desiccant techniques with substances like calcium chloride and lithium chloride options, which have the power to soak up moisture from the air. After it attracts within the moisture, the desiccant is pumped to a separate desorber unit the place the answer is heated. This creates air so humid it’s virtually like steam, which then passes to a low-power, air-cooled condenser that turns it into water,” says 36-year-old Pardeep. The system makes use of thermal power to energy it.
The water is potable after including the required minerals, as air naturally doesn’t comprise any and the water produced is nearly distilled in high quality. The journey of organising Uravu Labs started in 2018, after they had been among the many high 5 international finalists for the Water Abundance X Prize and gained a $50,000 prize. “In the early days of our {hardware} expertise firm within the climate-tech house, acquiring monetary capital posed vital challenges,” says 29-year-old Venkatesh.
Today Uravu Labs is concentrated on the hospitality and beverage industries since they’re the foremost shoppers of groundwater. “Hotels, eating places and cafes are additionally on the radar,” says 32-year-old Govinda. The firm sells packaged renewable water bottles to the hospitality sector at a value ranging from `4 to Rs 8 per litre. It has achieved a each day capability of manufacturing 1,000 liters of water per day and is trying to scale up additional.
