Praan, a California and Mumbai-based firm, has announced a $1.56 million investment round headed by Social Impact Capital, with participation from Better Capital, Paradigm Shift Capital, and Avaana Capital, as well as Texas-based Quality of Life Investments (Angel Syndicate). Several angel investors participated in the round, including Dr. Maulik Majmudar (Chief Medical Officer Amazon, Biofourmis), Surya Panditi (CEO - EnelX (Renewables Company), Dr. Ritesh Malik (Founder - Innov8), Akshay Singhal (Founder & CEO - Log9 Materials), Mehul Shah (Director - DSP Design Architects [One of the largest architecture firms in India]), and others.

The new funds will be used to grow and expand the company's India team, as well as to bring the patent-pending core technology to real large-scale pilots through B2B deployments, stabilise manufacturing, and democratise the technology so that it can deliver clean air for just Re 1 per person per day. The company also intends to accelerate its efforts in Direct Air CO2 Capture in both India and the United States.

Praan was founded in 2017 by Angad Daryani with the goal of helping people breathe healthier air in metropolitan areas using AI-powered filter-less air purification equipment. To make clean air accessible to everyone, the company employs scientific fundamental principles as well as cutting-edge hardware and software.

The company has enhanced its supply chain and worked with three manufacturing companies to manufacture its MK One product in India since its launch. Furthermore, the organisation has successfully proved its ability to capture CO2 from the lab's air.

Angad Daryani, Founder & CEO, Praan, stated, “The fundraise offers the company an incredible opportunity and an honest shot at trying to help over three billion people breathe cleaner air around the world. It's an extremely difficult and nuanced challenge but we are working our best to fulfill our mission, and are thrilled with the trust instilled in us by our investors.”

Praan's special projects team is currently working on establishing a 1 tonne CO2/day capture facility by 2022, with support from Microsoft for Startups, ANSYS Startup Program, and the Autodesk Foundation, while primarily focusing on strengthening and scaling its air pollution mitigation technologies. They were also a part of the Create-X Startup Accelerator Program at Georgia Tech.

“With this funding, we are hopeful to bring in a change in what is considered an extremely nuanced problem with a tremendous impact,” says Sarah Cone, Founder and Managing Partner at Social Impact Capital.

Praan has positioned itself as a viable option in the absence of credible state-backed large-scale projects to clean up the air by using a region-based approach to purification.