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Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) has financed a seed funding of Rs 50 lakh for a Lucknow-based start-up, Decentrik Technologies.
Headed by Vineet Vats, the company is working towards providing a simple and inexpensive solution to drinking water needs of the people on the move.
The funding was sanctioned under Innovative Ventures and Technologies for Development (INVENT) platform, a joint collaboration of the Centre's Technology Development Board (TDB) and the Department for International Development (DFID), United Kingdom.
Through INVENT, IIT-K aims to incubate 40 technological social start-ups with Rs 50 lakh being the maximum amount that can be offered as seed funding.
The start-up has come up with mobile water ATMs named ‘Waah”. These are portable units to dispense drinking water for as little as Rs 2 for 250 ml.
Decentrik has tied up with Indian Oil to install stationery RO units at their petrol pumps. Each Waah unit comprises separate water and glass dispenser slots.
According to Vats, “The glasses used in Waah are made from food-grade recyclable paper, thus preventing approximately 1,500-3,500 kg of plastic waste generated from these store-bought disposable water bottles.”
To prevent unauthorized refills, each Waah unit is protected with an electronic lock.
Operating since 2001, SIDBI Innovation and Incubation Centre (SIIC) at IIT-K is one of India's leading technology business start-up incubators. It has provided incubation support to more than 65 start-up companies.
