The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation has gained a 5% stake in Waterlife India Pvt. Ltd., a water purification company based in Hyderabad. The company creates and maintains community water systems with a capacity of 30,000-120,000 litres per day. Installed in rural areas, the systems help “treat water for bacterial and chemical contaminations.” Social venture capital firm, Aavishkaar, invested in Waterlife in 2009 for a minority stake in the company. BY SHRIJA AGRAWAL
In 2009, Aavishkaar,a micro equity fund,had invested in Waterlife India Pvt Ltd.for a significant minority stake.
Michael & Susan Dell Foundation picked up approximately 5% by way of fully and compulsorily convertible debentures of the Hyderabad-based Waterlife India Pvt Ltd, a water purification company. The actual amount pumped into the firm is not known.
Waterlife is engaged in building, operating and maintaining community water systems. In 2009, Aavishkaar, a micro equity fund, had invested in Waterlife India Pvt Ltd. for a significant minority stake.
Waterlife has been founded by Sudesh Menon, Mohan Ranbaore and Indranil Das with the objective of providing potable water to rural communities. The company installs and operates mini water purification plants (30,000-1,20,000 litres per day capacity) in rural areas that treat water for bacterial and chemical contaminations.
The water purification sector has witnessed quite a few deals in the past. California-based WaterHealth International Inc. had previously raised funds from India’s ICICI Bank while Dr Anji Reddy (chairman of Dr Reddy’s Labs) had raised over $10 million for the first close of its series D round from return backers Dow Venture Capital and SAIL Venture Partners. Also, HaloSource, which launched its business in India in 2006 in partnership with Mumbai-based Eureka Forbes, raised $11.5 million from Origo Sino-India Plc (OSIL) and Unilever Technology Ventures in July last year.
Earlier, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation had invested in Bangalore-based BPO Vindhya e-Infomedia (Vindhya) that employs people who are differently-abled. http://www.vccircle.com/500/news/michael-susan-dell-foundation-picks-5-in-waterlife-international