Deep-tech startup Praan said it has raised $1.56 million capital in a round led by Social Impact Capital, along with participation from Better Capital, Paradigm Shift Capital, and Avaana Capital and Quality of Life Investments Texas (Angel Syndicate).
The round also saw participation from several angel investors, including Dr Maulik Majmudar (chief medical officer Amazon, Biofourmis), Surya Panditi (CEO – EnelX), Dr. Ritesh Malik (Founder - Innov8), Akshay Singhal (Founder and CEO - Log9 Materials), Mehul Shah (Director - DSP Design Architects, Ashwin Kandoi (Co-Founder Winjit, Dhruv Chitgopekar (Co-Founder Collective).
The California and Mumbai-based platform will deploy the fresh funds for expanding its footprint across India
And to bring the patent-pending core technology to large-scale trials via B2B deployments, stabilise production and democratise the technology to provide clean air for Rs 1 per person a day. The company also wants to ramp up efforts in direct air CO2 capture across India and the United States.
The startup, operated by Praan Technologies Pvt Ltd was founded in 2017 by Angad Daryani. It claims to use scientific first principles, as well as hardware and software, to make clean air accessible to everyone.
The company has boosted its supply chain and worked with three manufacturing companies to produce its MK One product since its launch.
Angad Daryani, Founder and CEO, Praan, said, “The fundraise offers the company an incredible opportunity and an honest shot at trying to help over three billion people breathe cleaner air around the world. It's an extremely difficult and nuanced challenge but we are working our best to fulfill our mission.”
Praan's special projects team is now working on establishing a 1tonne CO2/day capture plant by 2022, with support from Microsoft for Startups, ANSYS Startup Program, and the Autodesk Foundation, while principally focused on strengthening and growing its air pollution reduction solutions, it said.
“The world sees over 70 million deaths every year due to air pollution, making it a very important challenge that requires immediate attention. Praan's deep tech expertise and mission-focused attitude has been really exciting and with this funding, we are hopeful to bring in a change in what is considered an extremely nuanced problem with a tremendous impact,” said Sarah Cone, Founder and Managing Partner at Social Impact Capital.
Startups working on problems around water and air have gained investor interest, in one of the similar deal Uravu Labs Pvt Ltd, a Bengaluru-based deep-tech startup focused on water renewables technology, raised an undisclosed sum in a seed funding round led by Speciale Invest, one of the few early-stage deep-tech-focused venture capital firms in India.
