Chennai-Based Water Management Startup Closes Seed Round With $2 Mn

Chennai-based cleantech startup WEGoT has raised $2 Mn in a seed funding round, cofounder Abilash Haridass told Inc42. The round has been led by GoFrugal, Shyam Shekar from iThought, and Brigade Enterprises.

Other investors in the round include Vibhu Natarajan, director at Grotech Landscapes; Rajagopal S from Entrust, Joydeep Ponugoti from Manbhum Constructions and Promod Kumar, who are industry experts in the real estate technology and consumer industries.

Haridass said that the fresh funds will be used to strengthen its product portfolio as well as scale its presence in India. The company also plans to double its employee base in the next six-months across R&D and Sales and Marketing.

WEGoT: Tracking Use Of Water Using IoT

WEGoT was founded in 2015 by Vijay Krishna, Mohamed Mohideen, Abilash Haridass, Sundeep Donthamshetty, and Selvakumar AB. The company leverages its sensor-based Internet of Things (IoT) device as well as a software platform VenAqua to help in reducing the demand for water by more than 50% by tracking real-time flow.

The granular data collected from various installations across residential and commercial buildings are analysed and the insights are shared with the end-users on a mobile app. The solution is subscription-based, wherein the company gives the hardware product for free and users pay a nominal monthly fee of INR 149(Residential) / 20 paise per sq.ft (Commercial) apart from installation charges.

WEGoT’s team has developed a high precision smart water meter that can provide data, which is of interest to multiple stakeholders: utilities, homeowners, insurance companies, maintenance providers, facility managers, government organizations, and research foundations. “Our solution is compatible with existing plumbing design and can be customized based on the requirement and helps reduce the demand for water drastically,” said Vijay Krishna, CEO and cofounder of WEGoT.

At present, WEGoT services over 25K homes across India and manages water in commercial properties spanning 20 Mn sqft.

Investor Speak

Lead investor Kumar Vembu, cofounder, GoFrugal said, “Given that residential usage accounts for a large portion of India’s water consumption, water is one luxury that needs to be conserved efficiently. We need a technology that will make people liable for misuse of water. WEGoT is addressing exactly this issue and we are very confident that their breakthrough technology will disrupt the way we perceive this vital resource.”

Nirupa Shankar, founder, Brigade’s Real Estate Accelerator Program said that incorporating data-driven efficiencies in water management solutions holds great promise in the commercial real estate sector, and we strongly believe WEGoT is positioned to disrupt this space.

Cleantech Industry: The Need Of The Hour

A recent water report states that 21 of the metro cities will run out of water by 2020 and the majority of the Indian water resources will run dry by 2030. Given that residential usage accounts for a large portion of India’s water consumption, water is one luxury that needs to be conserved efficiently.

Problems related to water scarcity in India involve water stress, water shortage or deficits, as well as the water crisis. To address the challenges of the future, the United Nations Development Goals for 2030 state that governments and citizens must ensure availability and conservation of water and sanitation for all.

A report on environment accounts released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation revealed that the growth in India has come at the cost of its natural resources including water.

Some of the other startups working on solving India’s water problems include Clensta. Delhi-based biotechnology startup Clensta International is working on Waterless Technology and has launched a range of waterless personal hygiene products which consists of waterless shampoo and body bath.