Ahmedabad-based robotic OEM startup ‘Ishitva’ has raised over $1 million in its Pre-Series A funding round led by Inflection Point Ventures.
This round also included participation from waste management and plastic value chain firms and individuals, including Kamaljyot Investments (a subsidiary of Excel Industries Ltd), Gandhi Family from GRP, AVI Global Plast Private Limited, Anup Gulati (COO at Quality Maritime Provider), Harinder Arya (President & div CEO – Major Capex & Pressure Control at Joulon), Sanjay Kamlani (serial investor and founder of Pangea3) and Mohan Ayyangar (operations lead – GDS EY India.)
According to the startup, the proceeds from the funding round would be utilized towards growing its sales and expanding its current R&D team. The three-year-old OEM, founded by Jitesh Dadlani, operates in dry waste sorting technology using modern technology such as AI, ML, IoT industry 4.0 to solve the issue of sorting complex waste.
The problem of waste management have plagued India for decades now, and with the rapidly growing startup sector, this issue will become even more massive in the coming years. Sorting complex waste remains a challenge that has not gained enough attention yet, and the solutions we have today just fail to scale up to the changing landscape of the world. This is where Ishitva comes in, using AI, ML, IoT Industry 4.0 to build efficient solutions which help in sorting complex waste.
Its wide range of solutions includes SUKA (AI-powered air sorting), YUTA (AI-powered robotic sorting), and Netra AI vision system, which helps in identifying waste and smart bins. The startup leverages industry 4.0 tech and tools for systematically sorting out waste and assessing the quality of recyclable waste.
This makes sure that humans don’t have to do waste sorting, which can be not only unhygienic and tedious, but also very dangerous. The company claims that it has built one of the most advanced Air Sorting Solutions SUKA 1.3, with the capability to sort up to 6 tons of plastic waste/ hour.
“Indian waste management industry is a riddle and our unlimited dream is to eliminate the manual sorting of waste which often involves humans to work unhygienic conditions. Our vision is to install industry 4.0 solutions in 4000+ towns of the country picked up by Swachh Bharat mission and we are thrilled to have IPV as a part of this journey,” Dadlani said.
He added that the startup will continue to invest in R&D and deploy solutions across towns and cities in the country. These solutions will lead to increased recycling, enhanced data capture for better decision-making for SBM and all stakeholders including recyclers and government agencies. Istvan has a goal to enable high-scale recycling of plastic, paper, glass, metal, and others while helping the people working in the sector with tech, safety, and better working conditions.
“We are excited that many of the waste industry stalwarts are joining early in our journey. With IPV, we now have access to a large pool of professionals and experts which is immensely useful at this stage for us,” said Sandip Singh, Ishitva CEO.
