How Sprih Is Empowering Businesses To Achieve Net-Zero Goals

Although in its infancy, India’s climate tech industry holds immense potential to drive a meaningful change in the country’s sustainability journey. With global urgency around solving climate problems, the Government of India, too, has become serious about its net-zero emissions goals by 2070.     

However, this space is marred by challenges ranging from high capital requirements and difficulties in scaling innovation and infrastructure to a slow rate of regulatory approvals and adoption. 

To address the increasing complexity that businesses face in managing their sustainability goals, engineers Akash Keshav, Ravi Singhal, Rohit Toshniwal, and Hemant Joshi launched Sprih.

Founded in 2022, Sprih is an AI-powered climate tech platform that is designed to assist companies in streamlining their path towards attaining sustainability goals.

“Around 2019-2020, when sustainability was becoming a critical topic for businesses, the market lacked tech-driven solutions to help businesses in their ESG journey. At the time, most of them were focussed on basic consultancy or Excel-based models,” Keshav said, adding that he, along with his other cofounders, then decided to rethink ESG metrics from the lens of technology. 

They imagined an advanced SaaS platform that could help businesses achieve carbon neutrality with ease and efficiency. Today, Sprih enables enterprises to achieve their decarbonisation goals by measuring, comparing, and reporting emissions across their operations and supply chains.

The startup caters to companies across multiple industries, including manufacturing, construction, chemical, paint, pharma, IT and higher education. Sprih claims to have a customer base of over 20 clients in India, while it serves two customers in the US. 

Some of Sprih’s top clients include Indigo Paints, Hero Motors, Arvind SmartSpaces, Espi Industries, and InfoBeans, among others. Additionally, the startup claims to have research partnerships with leading institutions like IIT Kanpur and IIT Bombay. 

Founders’ Climate Tech Expertise Behind Sprih’s Genesis

Sprih’s origins trace back to 2019 when its cofounders volunteered with an NGO focussed on reforestation in the outskirts of Pune. With a shared passion for sustainability and deep expertise in technology, the cofounders bring diverse experiences to the table. 

Keshav, an IIT alumnus, built and scaled multiple business categories across his career. He transitioned to the sustainability space, collaborating with global brands to enhance their sustainable operations. 

Meanwhile, Singhal, an IIT Kanpur graduate, has extensive experience developing large-scale distributed enterprise systems. As an early member of the engineering team at Arkin Networks, he played a pivotal role in building and scaling the company for global markets.

Toshniwal, who cofounded Arkin Networks (later acquired by VMware), led the development of a leading Internet Datacenter Operations product. Known for building world-class teams and driving innovation, he combines technical expertise with a passion for impact. Joshi, with experience spanning venture capital and startups, has cofounded successful ventures such as Pentathlon Ventures, In-Reality Software, and Sapience Analytics.

Their strong tech backgrounds and shared passion for sustainability brought the cofounders together and sparked the idea to explore something related to sustainability. 

However, the real trigger came when they encountered numerous questions and identified significant gaps in the industry.

“During our volunteering days, we frequently encountered questions from donors and corporate customers on the impact of tree planting or how such initiatives have an impact on the overall sustainability story. That’s when I realised there was something significant happening in this field,” Keshav said.

Next, the cofounders decided to study the market and realised that there was a lot of white space in the market. For instance, many companies were emerging but there was a lack of tech integration in the space. A majority of players were focussed on traditional consultancy models, with interventions happening in isolated ways.

There was a lot of confusion around elements like how to accurately calculate emissions, and what actions to take and what to avoid. In addition, the overall understanding of sustainability was limited. The founders said what surprised them most was the unavailability of big players in the space. 

Seeing this gap, the cofounders decided to leave their corporate jobs and build a carbon intelligence and management platform, Sprih. The only thing they were sure of this startup was tech, rest they knew they would note down all the pain points and then work to resolve them.

In 2022, the founders registered Sprih as a B2B business that offered an AI-powered Saas platform to help businesses reduce their carbon footprint.

Currently, the startup addresses specific pain points in each industry by working closely with clients to understand their unique challenges. Rather than relying on generalised solutions, Sprih’s configuration-driven approach adapts to customers’ needs and customises solutions specifically for them. 

Sprih’s Initial Hiccups

While building Sprih, the founders faced many challenges. The first and biggest one was that sustainability data was hugely scattered across different segments (electricity, water, waste, fossil fuels) locations and facilities. 

“Comparing emissions across industries proved challenging. For instance, an IT company’s monthly emissions might equal a cement company’s daily emissions. Providing context and perspective for these numbers became essential, leading to the use of AI for benchmarking,” he said, adding that going to executives and talking about sustainability was also not easy.

Another challenge as per Keshav was auditable data for regulatory compliance. With the introduction of new regulations, there was a growing need to ensure that sustainability data was auditable and backed by credible, verifiable audits. This posed a significant challenge for the founders.

“To understand things, I used to look at the annual sustainability report of companies and found that around 2021-2022 these reports were primarily driven by the marketing team with more talk and fewer numbers but if you look at reports now, the decisions are happening more on the data side,” Keshav said.

Now, the next big peeve was to develop a long-term plan. “Sustainability is a long-term journey, not a short-term fix. Developing a plan that can sustain for 10 to 15 years was a key pain point, as it required careful, forward-thinking strategies,” Keshav added.

To overcome all these, the founders had to up their tech game.

Sprih’s Tech At Play

Notably, the founders of Sprih have developed SustainSense, an AI-driven product designed to build a knowledge graph for sustainability and enhance decision-making. 

The knowledge graph integrates publicly available sustainability data, such as peer insights, regulatory updates, and global trends, creating a comprehensive knowledge base. This data helps clients make informed decisions. 

For example, if a client wants to set a net-zero goal, SustainSense can analyse both internal and external factors, like the targets set by the industry peers and provide data-driven recommendations. 

Unlike systems that rely on general statistical approaches, Sprih’s platform adapts dynamically to complex, real-world scenarios and global changes. This flexibility ensures that clients receive tailored, intelligent solutions that evolve with their needs.

In addition to its AI-driven capabilities, Sprih’s platform empowers clients to overcome challenges in data collection, regulatory compliance, and long-term planning.

Moreover, the platform also helps companies mitigate compliance risks by staying ahead of evolving regulatory requirements, ensuring they remain aligned with current sustainability standards. This approach not only supports decarbonisation goals but also safeguards businesses against potential regulatory penalties.

Currently, the startup offers services in areas like gaining an in-depth understanding of emissions, comparing sustainability performance with industry leaders, customised blueprints for achieving sustainability goals, and transparent reporting to ensure compliance with global standards.

The Way Forward For Sprih

Sprih’s pricing model which is primarily subscription-based is currently in the price discovery phase.

According to Keshav, the charges can start from $10K, depending on the market, facilities, and other factors. “Right now, we are focussed on customer acquisition and increasing product usage,” Keshav said.

Moving on, the startup competes with the likes of Sustainiam, Varaha and INDRA. While the startup did not disclose any financial numbers as its sales began only after FY23 and its FY24 numbers still need to be audited, it has had little to no impact of the ongoing funding winter, according to the founder. In fact, it raised $3 Mn from Leo Capital in the last fiscal.

Looking ahead, the founders plan to increase the focus on the US market and target top-funded companies in India. The founders are currently focussed on adopting a “building block” approach instead of building an entire product up front. This would allow them to create flexible, modular components that can be easily integrated or modified.

While the founders are optimistic about their technology, the challenge in India lies not just in providing solutions but in changing perceptions and helping companies recognise the value of sustainability. 

As of now, the climate tech industry faces several hurdles, including regulatory changes that can cause confusion, a lack of awareness among businesses about the actions they need to take, and a general misunderstanding of sustainability mechanisms like carbon credits, which undermines trust in the industry. 

With these issues on the prowl, can Sprih lead the climate tech revolution in India?

Note: We at Inc42 take our ethics very seriously. More information about it can be found here.