UBreathe, a bio-tech start-up that develops plant-based air purifiers has secured a deal of Rs 1.5 crore from Namita Thapar on the television show Shark Tank India Season 2.
In the episode featured on February 14, the UBreathe team delivered a pitch highlighting the critical impact of air pollution on our health. The 30-year-old founder, Sanjay Maurya, and 28-year-old head of product, Shubham Singh, began by indicating their age as 45 and 50, referencing how high air pollution levels in Indian cities are aging our lungs faster.
A recent study indicates that an average person in Delhi loses 10 years of life due to air pollution. Sadly, this problem has increased geographically with even states such as Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh seeing people lose an additional 2.5 to 3 years of life expectancy, explained the founders.
The team further explained how the existing air purifiers did not just fail to address the indoor air quality problem holistically but also have a negative environmental impact.
UBreathe’s purifiers are said to combine the natural air-purifying capabilities of plants with modern technology. Their proprietary design boosts a plant’s natural process of removing pollutants from the air with improved soil breathability. Unlike mechanical purifiers that filter only dust pollution and are highly toxic to the environment, their solution reportedly captures all the contaminants in the air.
The product is tested and certified by NABL Labs and has been reviewed and recommended by the faculty of AIIMS Delhi.
The start-up, established in 2018, was founded by Sanjay Maurya, Akhil Gupta, Akshay Goyal and Inderjeet Rao with a cumulative experience of over 35 years in tech-innovation, design and entrepreneurship. Their research is reportedly backed by institutes such as IIT Ropar, CIIE.CO IIM Ahmedabad, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity), Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) and the Nexus US Embassy Delhi. The company has filed 6 patents in India and Europe.
“We are truly thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Namita Thapar and to be able to bring UBreathe to a wider audience in India and abroad. Namita's extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry gives her an in-depth understanding of the time and effort necessary to develop a product like UBreathe. For the last several years, we have had the privilege of making a real difference in the lives of over 1000 customers,” said Sanjay Maurya, chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder, UBreathe.
“As per a recent report, the $335 billion global market for Indoor Air Quality Solutions is now expected to grow at 8.28 per cent in the next four years and Covid-19 has been a key driver for this growth. The pandemic has brought global attention to the issue of indoor air quality and the need to manage it to prevent airborne transmission of the virus,” he added.
