Smartgrid platform Probus, water purification startup DrinkPrime secure funds

New Delhi-based IoT smartgrid automation startup Probus Smart Things has raised $500,000 (Rs 3.7 crore) in a bridge round led by returning Unicorn India Ventures.

A group of angel investors including Anuj Khanna, Kiran Alla, Theia Ventures, Devdutt Shah, Kuntesh Chandaria, Urmin Group and Anmol Rastogi also participated in the round, the company said in a statement.
 
Probus plans to use the funds to scale up team and operations within India and abroad.

The company had raised an undisclosed sum in a seed funding round from Unicorn India Ventures in August last year.

Founded in 2015 by Anand Singh, Sunny Kumar Jadoon and Ankit Vaish, the startup develops integrated hardware and software solutions for utility providers and helps digitise their distribution grid.

It enables enterprises to have clear visibility of their network through an integrated end-to-end IoT platform.

The company claims its solutions help electricity companies restore electricity faster after power disturbances and offers reduced management costs.
 
The solution can help grid companies with real-time visibility of asset performance, root cause analysis, as well as predictive and preventive maintenance through sensor data. It will also help with scheduling and tracking of employees on-field.
 
“In early 2021, we introduced India’s first DLMS compliant RF product offering for smart meter integrations. We are strongly positioned to meet the upcoming requirement of smart metering in both India and abroad by providing our RF mesh products. With the current funding round, we will be expanding our team and product offerings while looking to fulfill our order pipeline,” Singh said.

DrinkPrime

Bengaluru headquartered Waterwala Labs, which owns and operates subscription- based smart water purifier startup DrinkPrime, has raised Rs 8 crores (approximately $1 million) of debt funding.

It raised Rs 5 crores from impact-focused lender, UC Inclusive Credit and Rs 3 crores from non-banking financial company, Western Capital.

In August last year, it had bagged Rs 21.55 crore in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital India’s accelerator programme Surge. Omidyar Network subsidiary ON Mauritius, investment firm AL Trust, along with angel investors Ramakrishnan Ramamurthi, Anand Ladsariya and Nikhil Jaisinghani had also participated in the round.

Founded in 2016 by Manas Ranjan Hota and Vijender Reddy, Drink Prime leverages the capabilities of internet of things (IoT) technology and a seven-stage filtration process to make smart water purifiers that gives its customers access to clean drinking water on tap.

The water purifier, which is connected to the cloud, monitors water quality schedules, monthly payments and maintenance through a mobile app.

The company claims to serve more than one lakh users across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Delhi NCR.