Neo San Raises USD 1.5 Million in Seed Funding to Revolutionize Waste Management
- ByStartupStory | July 1, 2024
Clean technology startup Neo San Pvt Ltd has successfully raised USD 1.5 million in a seed funding round, achieving a post-money valuation of USD 7.2 million. The round saw participation from notable investors including Ashish Kacholia, Anirban Lahiri (India pro-golfer), Aaradhana Jhunjhunwala, Aman Poddar, Adithya Mathews, S. Chikkarangappa (India pro-golfer), Apurva Damani, Mammen Kurien, Sandeep Telang, and Vanshay Goenka, Siddhi M.
Neo San is at the forefront of hazardous waste management, offering innovative solutions through proprietary technology. The company’s flagship product, Neo-X, is a decentralized waste incinerator that uses clean energy to treat waste at its source.
“We will use this round of funding to scale our technologies across India, and to enable larger systems to support the country’s waste-handling needs,” said Dhwaj Bagrecha, Co-Founder of Neo San. “Currently, we’re building decentralized networks of people and machines that will allow our growing cities to better manage waste locally and efficiently, reducing the overall emissions from this process by over 90% compared with the current scenario.”
Neo San’s incinerators are designed to handle commercial and industrial waste on-site, be it in residences, offices, schools, airports, or factories. This approach aims to cut millions of dollars spent on trucks, fuel, land, and energy, thereby reducing the operational costs and emissions for municipalities and private companies.
“Land-use and open burning is one of the biggest problems,” Bagrecha added. “The way I see it, any land that becomes a dump loses its value completely, be it for agriculture, development, or as a natural habitat. Toxic ash and contaminated water from waste enter our soil and water sources, poisoning the food, water, and air we consume. As time passes, the problems increase in the way of a butterfly effect, which is a global phenomenon.”
India generates over 25 million tonnes of reject-waste annually, with over 30% not even collected. Neo San aims to tackle this issue by decentralizing waste management, thereby reducing the burden of transporting mixed waste hundreds of kilometers from its source. Currently, 70% of waste management budgets are spent on transportation, a problem Neo San’s solutions can mitigate.
“India has a big landfill shortage problem in towns big and small. Everywhere we go, we see plastic lying around by the roadside and on vacant plots. Minimizing the flow of volumes of combustible materials to landfills while minimizing SOx and NOx emissions is an innovative Incineration based solution being offered by NeoSan. Rather than send the waste to overflowing landfills, small volumes of waste can be incinerated on site by green-minded corporate and commercial establishments in an environmentally friendly manner with minimal toxic gas emissions. I am hoping that wider adoption of NeoSan’s incinerator technology will help in a Clean India with no plastic lying around our country,” said Ashish Kacholia, a lead investor in this round.
Neo-X, Neo San’s localized incinerator, can be conveniently installed on any site and uses proprietary technology to reach temperatures of 1200°C in under two minutes. This capability allows it to handle reject, non-recyclable waste while reducing emissions by 98% compared to current pollution standards. Entirely designed and manufactured in India, Neo-X consumes only 0.2 units of electricity per cycle, making the operational cost of waste management just a few rupees per kilogram. It is highly safe, CE compliant, and captures crucial live data to calculate carbon offsets.
“Early next quarter, we are set to launch our advanced modular incinerator, capable of processing one tonne of toxic waste per day. This innovation will significantly enhance the handling and incineration efficiency for key bulk waste generators in the pharmaceutical, textile, chemical, and other manufacturing sectors. By integrating this solution on-site, we provide a more efficient and eco-friendly approach to waste management,” said Alistair Sean D’rozario, Co-founder of Neo San, who spearheaded the development of this technology.
With this new funding, Neo San aims to continue its mission of transforming waste management in India, reducing environmental impact, and creating a cleaner, healthier future for the country.
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