Water purifier startup Drink Prime, which was one of 15 startups selected for the third cohort of Sequoia Capital’s accelerator programme Surge earlier this year, has raised pre-Series A funding from a clutch of investors.
Drink Prime secured Rs 21.56 crore ($2.87 million) in total with Surge contributing Rs 12.7 crore, digital media publication Entrackr reported, citing regulatory filings.
Impact investment firm Omidyar brought in Rs 8.18 crore while the remaining was invested by AL Trust and three individuals. After the transaction, Sequoia holds an 18.43% stake in the startup and Omidyar 10.6% stake.
An email sent late evening to Drink Prime, Sequoia and Omidyar didn’t elicit any response.
However, a person familiar with Sequoia’s investment in the startup clarified that this is part of the old funding round by Surge and is not a fresh investment.
Bengaluru-based Drink Prime, operated by Waterwala Labs Pvt. Ltd, was founded in 2017 by Vijender Reddy Muthyala and Manas Ranjan Hota. The company makes smart water purifiers by combining the internet of things (IoT) and water purification technologies as it seeks to address the drinking water problem in urban India.
The startup handles installation, relocation and maintenance of the purifiers for its customers. The customers have to pay the company for the amount of water they consume as per their subscription plans, according to its website.
In April, Drink Prime had raised over Rs 3.6 crore as part of its seed round of funding from a clutch of investors including Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal.
Angel investor Bharath Jaisinghani and Innoven Capital director Ankit Agarwal had also participated in the round.
In the same month, Sequoia’s Surge had announced that Drink Prime was one of the 15 startups enlisted for its third batch.
Sequoia had launched Surge last year to sharpen its focus on early-stage funding.