DrinkPrime Raises ?60 Crore In Series A Round Led By Omidyar Network India, Surge Sequoia And 9Unicorns

* The funding will help the IOT-enabled customized water purifier company reach 1 million homes in India by 2026

DrinkPrime, the IoT-enabled customized water purifier on subscription raised ?60 crore in its Series A round. The company plans to invest in people, product and infrastructure to ensure they serve 1 million homes by 2026. The round was led by marquee investors like Omidyar Network India, Surge Sequoia and 9Unicorns at a time when the market is witnessing a steep capital crunch.

Speaking about the fundraise and the roadmap for DrinkPrime, Vijender Reddy Muthyala, Co-founder and CEO, DrinkPrime, said, “DrinkPrime is a drinking water company not a water purifier manufacturer. We raised funds to move closer to our goal of making safe drinking water accessible to the majority of India. We will do everything it takes to ensure we serve 1 million subscribers by 2026.”

The leading water purifier brand in Bengaluru has been growing exponentially over the past six months serving 1 lakh+ users across Bengaluru, Delhi, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Hyderabad and Noida.

"Our subscriber base grew by 330% this year. With the rising interest in our service offering across several geographies, we expect to maintain the momentum we’ve picked up over the last few months,” said Manas Ranjan Hota, Co-founder and COO, DrinkPrime.

Speaking about their decision to invest in DrinkPrime, Badri Pillapakkam, Partner, Omidyar Network India said, "We are delighted to continue our partnership with DrinkPrime which is increasing access to water purification devices and making quality drinking water on tap more affordable than bottled water and accessible to the Indian mass market, including the Next Half Billion. We look forward to supporting them in their journey to become the largest player in the consumer durable subscription market.”

"Safe drinking water remains one of the biggest challenges in India with around 50 per cent of the population having no access to it and this is all set to increase with time. In such a scenario, the need of the hour is to evaluate if technology can solve a part of it. As a part of our ESG investment approach, we invested in DrinkPrime that is making safe drinking water accessible to millions. Such solutions make a huge impact on the environment as it lessens the need for plastic. We expect some Unicorns to emerge from this space soon and DrinkPrime has huge potential, " said Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder, Venture Catalysts & 9Unicorns.

Aureolis Ventures, Kwaish Ventures and ZNL Growth Fund are a few other investors who participated in DrinkPrime’s Series A round in addition to participation from Northern Arc Capital and Unitus Capital in the debt capital raise.

“DrinkPrime has a unique business model which solves the fundamental problem of clean drinking water in urban cities in an environmentally responsible manner and has seen significant adoption of its tech led water as a service offering. We are delighted to partner with DrinkPrime, given their strong mission orientation and their ambition to scale up this business,” said Bama Balakrishnan, Executive Director & COO, Northern Arc Capital.

COVID-19 increased awareness on a wide range of issues related to health and wellbeing. With 37.7 million Indians affected by waterborne diseases in India yearly, the demand for DrinkPrime’s services will continue to grow as people return to their homes and offices in India’s urban areas.

About DrinkPrime

DrinkPrime was started to solve a personal problem - How do we get access to clean, safe, and healthy drinking water? Seems simple, but here’s what we found. First, most of the water you get in plastic cans isn’t fit for drinking. Second, less than 5% of Indians actually own a water purifier! That’s when we realized this was not just a personal problem but an opportunity to help more people. It’s been six years since we started on this journey. Today, more than 1 lakh+ users in 7 cities depend on us to access clean and safe drinking water!