Digital Paani: Making Watertech Work

Though my background is in energy, the more I learn about Climatetech, the more I realize the problems of climate, energy, food, water, development, etc. are all interconnected, which is why I am excited today to talk about Digital Paani.

As many of you know, water is a super complicated issue in India, with huge swaths of the population facing water stress and a lack of water infrastructure (How much I took for granted drinking straight from the tap growing up in Canada!)

What I like about Digital Paani is they are using modern technology to enhance and improve existing infrastructure, and have already deployed to ~35 paying customers, seeing significant water savings. Water is challenging to monetize in India as most consumers don't pay for water, so they have focused on industrial and commercial consumers, where regulatory enforcement is strengthening and water prices are rising.

In many cases, water treatment systems already exist, but data is difficult to collect and may not have local automation control. Another aspect I like about Digital Paani is their solutions for medium-sized customers-so often sophisticated data management solutions for infrastructure are only usable for the big established players.

Another beneficial aspect of digital solutions is they can be built in India for the world. That said, like most climatetech startups, this is not a "pure" software play. To gain operational savings, there needs to be addtional sensors, controls and an understanding of the underlying system. Digital Paani shows another aspect I like to see in ClimateTech companies-a strong background in the sector. Co-Founder Rajesh Jain (Mansi's dad) has decades of experience in the water sector. I do often caution young entrepreneurs looking to get into ClimateTech how important it is to have a deep understanding of the systems you are trying to disrupt.

I am very excited to see what the future holds for Digital Paani, as they grow from a focus on C&I companies in India to geographic expansion around the world, new products and services including potentially a marketplace for treated water and business lines such as freshwater treatment and rainwater harvesting. Onward and upward!

Disclaimer: I am an angel investor in Digital Paani. That said there is no commercial arrangement for writing this article, I just think they're really cool

PS. If you have a start-up and would like to be featured in a future of this edition of this newsletter, please reach out, especially if you are working on deeptech/hardtech, are a woman founder or from a disadvantaged/minority community, or are working in Tier 2+ areas. I do my best to get out of the Delhi/Mumbai/Bangalore bubble(s), but always want to learn more.