Watertech startup Boon has secured $5 million through a combination of equity and debt in a funding round, marking the inaugural investment in India by Roca Group Ventures, the investment division of the Spanish bathroom products firm, Roca Group. The capital will be utilized to scale Boon’s offerings, including an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled water Internet of Things (IoT) platform designed to enable water purifiers to monitor the quality of drinking water, adjust quality via an app, and track filter health, according to company officials.
Additionally, the funds will support Boon’s international expansion into the North American market. "Water has taken a back seat and lately it has been feeling like we are passive spectators when it comes to water quality, plastic bottles, or microplastics in drinking water," stated Advait Kumar, who co-founded Boon in 2015 with IIT Kanpur alumna Vibha Tripathi. "We are very excited to have partnered with Roca in our efforts to challenge the status quo of drinking water," he added.
In a statement, Roca Group expressed, "We are excited about this first investment in an Indian startup with Boon. Their advanced approach to water purification with a clear inclination towards sustainability and technological innovation is commendable."
While Roca is a notable investor, Boon did not disclose the names of other participants in the recent funding round. The Gurugram-based platform, formerly known as Swajal, specializes in remote water purifying, monitoring, and dispensing solutions. The company offers three products: a smart purifier, a refill system providing glass water bottles instead of plastic, and a water monitoring system.
Boon serves approximately 1,000 clients, including prominent hotels such as Shangri-La, Hilton, and Hyatt. "We want to now start working with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) like smaller hotels, smaller offices because they also have the same requirement for water and removing plastic bottles," Kumar told ET.
To date, the company has raised around Rs 60 crore through a mix of equity, debt, and grants.
