In India, clean drinking water isn’t just a convenience — it’s a daily struggle.
And in 2016, that struggle gave birth to one of the most unique subscription startups in the country — DrinkPrime.
🚰 The Spark: It All Began in a Bengaluru Flat
“I still remember those evenings when my flatmates and I were frustrated with drinking unsafe tap water,” recalls Vijender Reddy Muthyala, co-founder of DrinkPrime.
Like millions of young Indians living in cities, Vijender and his friend Manas Ranjan Hota faced a daily choice — buy costly bottled water or invest in an expensive water purifier with regular maintenance headaches.
Neither option made sense.
So they asked a simple but powerful question:
“Why can’t clean drinking water be available like Netflix — on subscription?”
And that question turned into a startup that would soon redefine urban water access in India.
💡 The Idea: Turning Necessity into Innovation
Founded in 2016 in Bengaluru, DrinkPrime started as a smart RO water purifier subscription service.
Instead of forcing customers to buy a purifier, DrinkPrime offered one on monthly rental, with installation, maintenance, and filter changes included.
Users could monitor water quality and usage through an app, thanks to the IoT-enabled purifiers that the team built in-house.
It wasn’t just convenient — it was affordable, scalable, and designed for India’s mobile lifestyle.
🧩 The Struggles: Every Drop Counted
But like most startups, the early days weren’t easy.
The idea of a “subscription for water” was so new that many investors and customers didn’t believe it would work.
“We heard ‘no’ more times than we can count,” Vijender said in an interview.
Hardware costs were high, customer acquisition was slow, and logistics — delivering, maintaining, and monitoring thousands of purifiers — was a nightmare.
Yet, the founders refused to give up.
They focused on product reliability and service consistency, building technology that made purifiers smarter, not just cheaper.
One installation at a time, one referral at a time — DrinkPrime began to earn trust.
📈 The Rise: When Consistency Pays Off
Once the model clicked, there was no looking back.
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DrinkPrime’s IoT-powered purifiers became a hit among urban millennials and working families.
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The company expanded beyond Bengaluru into Hyderabad, Delhi-NCR, and other major cities.
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They raised over ₹90 crore from leading investors including Omidyar Network India, Peak XV Partners (Sequoia), and Alteria Capital.
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By FY24, they achieved 59% year-on-year growth, clocking ₹47.8 crore in revenue, and are now aiming for ₹75 crore in FY25.
Today, DrinkPrime serves over 1.5 lakh households, delivering millions of litres of safe water every month.
What started as a small idea in a shared apartment has become one of India’s fastest-growing D2C water-tech brands.
💪 The Impact: Solving a Real Bharat Problem
DrinkPrime isn’t just selling purifiers — it’s solving a real Bharat problem: access to safe drinking water without heavy upfront cost.
They’re proving that you can build a profitable startup not by creating demand, but by fixing what’s broken.
Every new city, every new customer, adds another drop to the mission:
“To make clean drinking water accessible to everyone, everywhere.”
💼 Lessons for Founders
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Big problems don’t always need fancy ideas — they need practical solutions.
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Customer pain is your best teacher. DrinkPrime was born from real frustration, not boardroom brainstorming.
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Don’t wait for validation — build, test, refine. Rejection is part of the process.
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Execution beats innovation. Technology, logistics, and service consistency built their moat.
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Purpose matters. When you solve something essential, scale naturally follows.
✨ The Future Flows Ahead
From two flatmates to a 500+ member team, from one purifier to 1.5 lakh households — DrinkPrime’s journey is a testament to India’s new-age entrepreneurs who are solving real, everyday problems with technology and grit.
In a world chasing the next big trend — AI, crypto, or space — they chose to fix water.
Because sometimes, the most powerful startups don’t change how we think — they change how we live. 💧