Water specialists efficiently manage and optimize every water drop's usage
In the realm of technology, India is making a splash, particularly in the water sector. The Indian water-tech segment attracted $174 million funding between 2018 and 2025, according to market intelligence platform Tracxn. The funding peaked last year at $56.2 million across 18 rounds, indicating a growing interest in this sector.
One such startup, Solinas, has been making waves in the industry. Founded by Divanshu Kumar, who was inspired by water scarcity issues in his hometown, Solinas has so far raised $4 million funding from the likes of Zerodha's Rainmatter. The company is eyeing international opportunities, especially in West Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Solinas' revenue model is focused on business-to-business and business-to-government deals. The company charges for the operation and maintenance of underground utility pipelines on a monthly or per inspection basis. It also offers yearly after-sales maintenance service for its robots.
Solinas is working on a solution called XcavX to clear sludge from sewer lines and sewage treatment plants. Another innovation from Solinas is the Endobot series of robotic pipeline crawlers for sewerage line inspections. The company recently bagged an order from Dubai for a pipeline inspection robot. Solinas also created a robotic intervention called Homosep to end manual scavenging in sewer lines.
Another self-funded startup, Akvo, is readying to finance $3 million to speed up R&D, production, and overseas sales. Akvo's core technology involves converting humidity in the air into drinking water using advanced condensation systems, IoT-driven monitoring, and multi-stage filtration. The company is building modular rooftop units to allow customers to scale up water production. Akvo's CEO, Swapnil Shrivastav, envisions the company's device being used in sectors such as data centers to produce water on-site for cooling, making the data center water-positive while reducing its cooling cost.
Uravu Labs, another player in the water-tech sector, bagged its first overseas order this year for a drinking water and vertical farming project in Abu Dhabi. Uravu Labs aims to lower the cost per liter of water to 50 paise by the end of 2026 and plans to expand its water production capacity to 12,000 liters per day by opening two more units in Bengaluru and another outside the city.
Indra Water, another startup in the segment, acts as the first step in wastewater treatment and has a patented ElectroX system that can remove up to 90% of pollutants from water. Indra sells its treatment plants on a capex basis and offers service support for consumables, spares, and maintenance. For select business sectors, it offers water treatment service on a rental basis.
Venture capital firms like Enrission India Capital are also showing interest in the water-tech sector. Harsh Deodhar, Principal at Enrission India Capital, states that the venture capital firm focuses on startups that use deep-tech to challenge the status quo or solve problems affecting the masses.
In tier-1 cities, an average of 600 MLD water is lost daily due to illegal connections, contamination, leaks, and other pipeline network issues. With startups like Solinas, Akvo, Indra Water, and Uravu Labs leading the way, India's water-tech sector is poised for significant growth and impact.
