CityFilter AirPurifier - Make your city air pollution free with Cityfilter
We've partnered with Catapooolt to showcase some of the best ventures from the 'Catapooolt ProductCzars' Challenge which aims to inspire & identify some of the best product based innovations - and focusing on providing them access to renowned product mentors, prototyping experts, product market-creation organizations, funding & media visibility.
Here is an insightful and candid conversation with Rahul Singh, Co-Founder, CityFilter. You can also check out CityFilter's Crowdfunding Campaign here.
What is the one sentence pitch of your venture?
Make your city air pollution free with Cityfilter
Tell us more about your team?
Rahul Singh (Co-Founder):- B.tech (Electronics and Communications) having 10 years of Industry experience
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-singh-a2510851/
Manish Bhadauria (Co-founder):- B.tech(Computer Science) having 12 years of experience in project management
https://www.linkedin.com/in/manish-bhadauria-pmp/
Sonali Singh (Co- founder):- MBA
How did you come up with the idea of your venture?
In this polluted environment, breathing is killing. Air pollution is killing more than cancer. It was a Diwali 2017 season in Delhi, air pollution was on the peak. everyone was complaining problem. My Nani is an asthma patient, it was very difficult time for her and for my family also. We are only dependent on our government for such big problems. The solution to air pollution was a dire need, that forces me to work on. The idea was inspired by our honorable prime minister Narendra Modi's initiative Swatch Bharat. we have to clean our own surrounding, the city will automatically become air pollution free. Air pollution is growing due to negligence of general public. Our collective action can kill this invisible killer. Special thanks to Sonali who always inspired me to develop a solution.
What problem are you solving?
We are cityfilter a startup working on techniques to reduce air pollution in metropolitan cities. AIR pollution in metro cities and around the world has reached the hazardous level, 70 Million people are dying every year due to air pollution (WHO). There are various solutions (like air purifying tower in China, water sprinklers and huge outdoor air purifiers) available to purify the outdoor air but they need land and time to construct & install and power (burn fossil fuel) for operations.
The major drawback of such solution they use external energy that is generated from the burning of fossil fuel in power plants. Such power plants are one of biggest contributor to Green House Gases (GHG) in the environment
We have created a compact low-cost outdoor air purifier that can be fitted in any vehicle like a car, bus truck or motor-bike and purify outdoor air surrounding to the vehicle. It uses the surplus power of the vehicle, easy to implement, low maintenance and no land required. It does not disturb look and operation of the vehicle.
It reduces dust, fumes, PM2.5, PM10, VOCs and other harmful particles from the air with 99% efficiency. After implementing this solution a public bus can purify 1 lakh cubic feet of air every day similarly, a motor-bikes and cars without using any extra land or power. In this manner, we can achieve three goals
1. Air Purification:- We can purify entire city’s air with evenly distributed air purifiers With our collective action. We are dependent on government to resolve air pollution problem. With our small initiative and collective action, we can kill this invisible killer.
2. Energy Saving:- As this invention runs on the surplus power of vehicle, in this way we are saving energy and reducing carbon footprint. Most of Indoor and outdoor air purifier runs on power supply from power plans. We can save millions of unit of power by moving them to our vehicles surplus power.
3. Reduction of GHG: - we can eliminate huge outdoor air purifier that runs on fossil fuel power and takes a long time for construction. That is a reduction of CO2 and other harmful gases from the environment.
How does it work?
We have created a compact low-cost outdoor air purifier that can be fitted in any vehicle like a car, bus truck or motor-bike and purify outdoor air surrounding to the vehicle. It uses the surplus power of the vehicle, easy to implement, low maintenance and no land required. It does not disturb look and operation of the vehicle.
It reduces dust, fumes, PM2.5, PM10, VOCs and other harmful particles from the air with 99% efficiency. After implementing this solution a public bus can purify 1 lakh cubic feet of air every day similarly, a motor-bikes and cars without using any extra land or power. In this manner, we can achieve three goals
What is your target market?
Air pollution has become a big threat for developing and developed economies. It is emerging as billion dollar industry. 9 out of 10 people inhaling polluted air. Our primary market would be metro cities of India and South East Asia. 1+ billion of private and public transport vehicles are our potential customer.
What is your competitive advantage?
Air pollution has become a billion-dollar industry and situation is alarming. Every economy is looking for a feasible solution to air pollution. The various organizations are working on the solutions to reduce air pollution but most are focused on indoor air pollution. Very few are working on outdoor air purification. Our solution is very unique and innovative. We will have early mover advantage but the well-stabilized organization would be the main challenge for us
How do you plan to market your product? What are your customer acquisition strategies?
Air pollution has become a challenge for every society but we do not have any effective solution to clean air. We have identified some most polluted are in Delhi NCR. Idea is to make these area air pollution free with our solution. It will create a buzz about our product after that we can reach our customer like vehicle owner, Taxi aggregators, corporate houses and municipal corporations.
What is the revenue model of your venture?
Bringing a new product to market is difficult, requiring extensive work in product development, manufacturing and marketing efforts. We will follow the same business model what home appliances manufacturers follow. That is selling finished goods to customer and after sales services.
What sort of support and feedback are you looking from the community?
9 out of 10 people worldwide breathe polluted air. This solution to air pollution is need of hour we cannot ignore it. Everyone has to take some responsibility. Air pollution is growing due to negligence of common man. With our collective action, we can kill this invisible killer. We invite every citizen to join our hand to fight against air pollution.
