A husband-wife duo leverage tech to make bottled drinking water affordable

In Swades—the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer movie—protagonist Mohan Bhargav finds his calling after seeing a boy sell water at a remote railway station. 

For Amitt Nenwani, Co-founder of Wahter, this moment of introspection arrived when he was on a business trip. He says he had stopped enroute to buy a bottle of water—which cost him about Rs 30—when he observed a child drink from a pool of water by the roadside. 

“I immediately called my wife, Kashiish to share what I had just seen. After contemplating the scene we both realised that the key to making clean water accessible to all was to significantly reduce its cost while maintaining quality, which led to a spark of inspiration,” Nenwani tells YourStory.

The duo then set out to solve a critical issue—access to safe drinking water. More than one in ten of India's 1.3 billion people, or nearly 163 million people, do not get clean water near their homes, according to a 2018 WaterAid report.

Amitt and Kashiish founded Wahter in 2023 with the aim to sell water for as low as Rs 2 per 500 ml bottle.

The Gurugram-based packaged water startup allocates 80% of its label space to partnering brands and enables advertisers to design and customise labels on their own. 

Wahter says its tech stack ensures advertisers get the most out of their expenditure. “All of our vendors are the same ones who provide bottled water to other players,” Amitt adds.

Wahter, which currently employs 10 people, is a division of Nenwani family-owned chemical manufacturing business Shiva Group. 

Tech-enabled distribution 

Wahter has developed an app, which it says, enables advertisers to place orders, upload brand designs, and visualise final products in a 360° angle. In addition, advertisers can target specific markets down to the PIN code level via a dashboard on the app.

“After design approval and shipping of bottles, advertisers can monitor real-time merchandise offtake, track performance in specific areas, and formulate strategies to enhance sales,” Kashiish explains.

The dashboard provides brands with comprehensive insights through geographic tracking and demographic analysis, enabling the creation of tailored strategies that effectively resonate with their target audience.

“This enables the creation of tailored strategies that resonate effectively with the target audience,” she says.

Currently, Wahter’s bottle distribution network covers the Delhi NCR, including key locations such as ITO, Connaught Place, Noida Film City, Cyber City, Udyog Vihar and Sohna Road.

“Our distribution strategy aims to make water accessible in various locations, including hypermarkets, branded carts, stores, corporate offices, and airplanes, ensuring maximum reach and offtake,” he states.

Wahter has partnered with Scrapbuddy, a PET recycling innovator, to recycle 10 million PET bottles in Delhi-NCR over three months, transforming waste into valuable products like fabrics and paver blocks.

Business model

Wahter charges advertisers between Rs 10 and Rs 20 per bottle, depending on the target group chosen by the brand.

The startup has partnered with a Delhi-based consumer electronics retail chain Vijay Sales to distribute its bottles at all its outlets in the city. 

It is also the distribution partner for consumer electronics brand boAt Lifestyle and Shoobhi Foundation, a non-government organisation providing clean drinking water to the public and communities across Delhi-NCR.

Wahter has so far made commitments for half a million bottles.

“We have plans to establish partnerships with more brands on both a national and international scale in the near future. Soon we will be announcing our collaboration with a UAE-based real estate developer,” says Amitt.

To reduce the logistics burden, the startup has implemented an ISI-certified bottling plant every 75 kilometres. 

Plans ahead

According to Expert Market Research, the Indian advertising market, valued at Rs 916.32 billion in 2023, is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.0% from 2024-2032, reaching Rs 2344.01 billion by 2032. 

The startup projects revenues of Rs 250-300 crore by FY 2025-26 and Rs 3600 crore by FY 2028-29. It aims to expand its reach to more cities in the future.

Wahter, which currently offers 250ml and 500ml bottles, will assess future demand to determine whether it needs to expand the range of sizes available. The startup says that it currently does not have any direct competitors in this space.

While there are no immediate plans for fundraising until the company is post-revenue, it intends to start raising funds for faster expansions in the near future.

(Disclaimer: The copy has been updated to correct a typo.)