Chennai-based water conservation company, WEGoT Utility Solutions today announced that it has raised $2 million in seed funding.
The funding was led by GoFrugal, Shyam Shekar from iThought, and Brigade Enterprises.
The IoT-based startup offers integrated water management solutions in real-time to prevent and address the water crisis.
Vibhu Natarajan, Director - Grotech Landscapes, Rajagopal S from Entrust, Joydeep Ponugoti from Manbhum Constructions and Promod Kumar are the other leading investors.
The company said that the bulk of the funding will be utilised to strengthen its product and technology. WEGoT, which currently has offices in Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai will expand its sales footprint across India.
“Our primary focus now will be on geographical expansion. We have already started projects in Pune, Ahmedabad, NCR, and Kolkata. We will set up sales team in these regions shortly,” said Abilash Haridass, Co-founder and Chief of Growth & Strategy, WEGoT Utility Solutions.
WEGoT was founded in 2015 by four engineers, Vijay Krishna, Mohamed Mohideen, Abilash Haridass and Sundeep Donthamshetty. The company offers a sensor-based Internet of Things (IoT) device and a software platform 'VenAqua' which helps to reduce the demand for water by more than 50 percent by tracking real time flow.
“There are only two way to solve the water problem either we should increase the supply or bring down the demand. With this solution we are able to bring down the demand in water by 50 per cent in buildings,” Haridass said.
Current WEGoT presence
WEGoT currently services over 25 thousand homes across India and manages water in commercial properties spanning 20 million square feet. The company said it has so far saved around 1 billion litres of water.
“Today we have 70 people we are expecting to reach about 150 people in the next 2-3 months. We are recruiting people quite aggressively to scale up the business right now,” Haridass added.
The company follows a subscription-based business model. The company gives the product free and users are required to pay a nominal monthly fee in addition to installation charges. It currently has three plans for residential properties with a monthly fee of ₹149, ₹199 and ₹299. The ₹299 monthly plan comes with a remote water shut-off feature. For commercial property it charges ₹0.20 paise per sq.ft.
“In the next two quarters, we will also launch a water management solution for individual homes and small retails. We are working on the product as well as distribution strategy,” Haridass said.