• Previous experience of a severe drought inspired Swapnil Shrivastav to set up a company to solve water shortage issues.
  • Uravu Labs, Swapnil Shrivastav’s company, has put forward air-to-water systems to solve the water shortage problem.

To deal with water shortages, entrepreneurs like Swapnil Shrivastav and Beth Koigi have established startups and developed innovative air-to-water systems to produce clear water from the atmosphere.

Uravu Labs: Background and technology

A severe drought hit the Indian city of Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, in 2016, when Swapnil Shrivastav was a student there. The drought left he and other local community only with a limited amount of water each day. While he says it’s not uncommon for water supply issues to impact parts of India, it was a tough month for Mr Shrivastav and others in the region. “It was a very humid area; it was unmanageable.” This experience prompted him to set up Uravu Labs, a Bangalore-based startup, creating a system converting air to water by using a liquid desiccant and renewable energy sources. However, while his vision was to supply drinking water to communities facing water shortages, he says it wasn’t financially viable.

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A similar startup

Founded in 2017, Majik Koigi was inspired to start Majik Water after experiencing water scarcity for the first time during a drought when she was studying in Nairobi in 2016. Although many people drank, washed and cooked with water from a nearby river, Koigi says she couldn’t bring herself to drink the contaminated water. As a result, she started looking for other water source ideas and set up a water filter company before developing an air-to-water system. Later, she works with NGOs and humanitarian organisations, as well as being sold in stores.

Audrey Huang is an intern news reporter at Blue Tech Wave. She is interested in AI and startup stories. Send tips to a.huang@btw.media.

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