Two concerned architecture students, Swapnil Shrivastav and Venkatesh RY, found that the dried-up nearby river was the only water source for the campus, with no other alternative left.

Soon, they realised that the amount of water in the air is significant-6x the volume of all the world's rivers combined.

So, they decided to make water from the air cheaply to end water scarcity while abstaining from college placements.

"We were also doing freelance work to sustain ourselves and invest some money in the tech to convert air into water. We thank our parents and friends who helped us financially to build the tech," Swapnil told media.

Finally, in 2018, the Bangalore-based young entrepreneurs were ready with the prototype. The initial prototype they developed resembled a panel design.

The process uses a salt solution (desiccant materials) to absorb moisture from the air. The solution is heated to 60-65 degrees Celsius to vaporise the absorbed moisture, which is then condensed to produce fresh water. The liquid salt solution is then cycled back to repeat the process.

In 2019, they incorporated Uravu Labs in Bangalore. Uravu won a $50k grant from the XPRIZE Foundation, which helped them gain trust and fund their technology. With the grant, they improved their technology, set up an office, and hired employees.

In 2020, they developed an advanced prototype capable of producing water using various energy sources.

The startup scaled production and began commercialising water made from air in glass bottles under Uravu, with the trademark FromAir®.

They've created their recipe for Uravu drinkable water, inspired by ancient Indian practices. They use an air-to-water process to collect ultra-pure distilled water and add essential minerals like magnesium, calcium, sodium, copper, and zinc. The water has a slightly sweeter taste and is sold in premium glass bottles.

They produce 3,000 units per day and save 2.5 litres of groundwater for every litre of renewable water. By using only glass packaging, they prevent single-use plastic bottles from entering the environment!
 

 From starting with just one customer a year ago, Uravu is serving over 50+ outlets in Bangalore. Uravu now serves around 3000-4000 bottles per day to premium hospitality clients like The Leela, Hyatt Centric, Roxie, Byg Brewski Brewing Co., and many other established hospitality brands across Bangalore.

Uravu is transitioning to a hub model, with plans to establish factories producing 10k to 20k litres of water per day. The water will be distributed within a 5 to 50-km radius.

In Bangalore, they plan to scale up from 3k to 10k-15k litres/ day. Over the next 2 years, they aim to set up 5-6 hubs in India and 2-3 outside India, targeting 100k litres per day within 2-2.5 years.