Tricolor Cleantech Capital, LLC to invest in JanaJal water ATMs

Tricolor Cleantech Capital, a social impact fund based in the USA has committed to invest up to $5mn in JanaJal, the flagship initiative of the Delhi based Supremus Group. JanaJal is a social enterprise committed to making safe drinking water available and accessible to the common man in India through building and operating Water ATMs at various public places such as railway stations, hospitals, bus stands, highways and places of religious worship.

Over the past four years, the company has already established a footprint in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and parts of the North East region. The company has also secured the contract to install 39 water ATMs at various railway stations in Mumbai and target commissioning of these by March 31, 2017. The company will use the funds to expand its footprint at railway stations in India through IRCTC besides setting up water ATMs in various other cities.

The investment will see Tricolor Cleantech invest up to $5mn over the next 2-3 years as JanaJal’s footprint of water ATMs grows nationally. Tricolor Cleantech Capital is a US based social impact fund that has been firmly focused on the social sector in India, specifically safe drinking water. “We believe that the vision and execution capability of the management team at JanaJal is time tested, proven and are confident of being able to scale up to a level that will positively impact the lives of millions of Indians in the near future” said Douglas Vaughn, Managing Partner, Tricolor Cleantech Capital, LLC.

He further added “we have been extremely impressed with the Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Modi’s consistent emphasis on safe drinking water ever since he assumed office in May 2014 and hope to contribute significantly to his vision and mission of making this precious resource available to every Indian citizen in the next four years.”

JanaJal was co-founded in 2013 by social entrepreneurs and brothers, Delhi based Parag Agarwal and Anurag Agarwal based in the US. Parag has won several awards for social innovation and distinguished entrepreneurship in 2015 and 2016. “Our goal is to deliver one billion liters of safe drinking water annually by 2018. Creating jobs and offering social entrepreneurship opportunities by imparting training and up-skilling individuals is an intrinsic part of our value proposition. We are deeply committed to creating technology savvy agents of change who will serve communities and bring safe health and joy to their lives” said Parag.

This deal could provide a major boost to the social impact sector in India that is high on the government and citizens’ agenda. The recent budget brought sharp focus on safe drinking water where the government has committed to make 28,000 habitations in India free from arsenic and fluoride contamination.