New Delhi [India], 6 March 2024: The Circle: Founders Club (The Circle FC) concluded the ‘The Water Challenge’ Accelerator Program with a grand Demo Day held at The Circle.Work in Gurugram last week. The event witnessed esteemed guests, including the Deputy Ambassador of Israel, Israeli government officials, Indian climate-tech investors, media representatives, corporates, and other ecosystem stakeholders.
The event commenced with the keynote address delivered by H.E. Ohad Kaynar, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Israel to India. Following the keynote, Ms. Noa Amsalem, the Water Attaché presented the Israeli Water Innovation Model and how India and Israel are working together to address these water challenges. Nayan Shah, Director, IDE Tech highlighted the impactful work being done in India by IDE Technologies (A world leader in water treatment solutions and desalination).
The agenda of the day also included a panel discussion on the topic of ‘Role of climate-tech Innovations in Addressing Global Challenges’, moderated by Shivam Sharma, PhD (Absolute®) and the panellists Guru Inder (Carbon Circle), Vishnu Rajeev (Speciale Invest) and Tejinderpal Miglani (Climate Angels).
The jury panel consisted of leading climate tech VCs and angel investors like Speciale Invest, Venture Catalyst, Fluid Ventures and Climate Angels, representing a diverse range of backgrounds and expertise in the sector. The event was attended by more than 15 VCs and investors including Indian Angel Network, MeritX Ventures, AWE Funds and many more.
The nine startups who presented were –
- Watsan Environtech: Producing affordable, maintenance-free, electricity-free water purifiers.
- Aumsat Technologies: Water Infrastructure Intelligence using satellite technologies
- Ecovia: Providing environment-friendly hygiene solutions for businesses.
- Phyfarm: Providing a Sensing, Automation & Farm Intelligence Platform for Smart Agriculture.
- Arosia Water: Building cloud-connected, solar-powered AROSIA Water Kiosks.
- Nimble Vision: Implementing Smart Water & Sewage Management solutions using IoT & AI.
- WaterLab Solutions: Creating low-cost groundwater monitoring and management solutions.
- Biofilm Engineers: Developing next-generation bioreactors for wastewater treatment using IoT platforms and AI tools.
- iSync: Offering home automation solutions for urban gardening.
Three startups were awarded prizes sponsored by IDE Technologies (World leader in sustainable water treatment solutions and desalination) and Absolute® (Absolute is a global bioscience company that is creating novel biomaterials and ingredients for Agriculture, Healthcare and Biomaterials).
Rajiv Bathla, CEO, The Circle, remarked, “The Water Challenge has been a testament to the power of international collaboration in driving innovation. By leveraging expertise from Israel and India, we have created a platform for startups to thrive and create impactful solutions for global water issues.”
Nemesisa Ujjain, VP and Head – The Circle FC, stated, “The Circle FC is committed to support startups building impactful solutions for India, ultimately driving profound change on a global scale. It was an honour to work with founders dedicated to solving the country’s real grassroot problems.”
The strides achieved in technology, commercialization, and market access not only address critical water challenges but also underscore The Circle FC’s dual commitment of going global while building robust solutions in India, all within the framework of sustainability.
About The Circle: Founders Club
The Circle Founders Club is a business accelerator to help scale up growth-stage startups through focused mentoring, business services, funding support, key business collaborations, and global access. It is backed by Hunch Ventures.
