Pani, a Canadian software-as-a-service (SaaS) company, completed an oversubscribed $8M CAD capital raise. Funds include a seed equity round co-led by Blue Bear Capital and Blue Coast along with participation from Mazarine Ventures and Humanitas, as well as contributions from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) and other government agencies.
Blue Bear Capital, a California firm that invests in high-growth AI technology companies across energy, infrastructure, and climate industries, also joins Pani's board as part of the financing.
"Water treatment is a multitrillion-dollar industry, and one of the most important drivers of sustainable development, yet it has been slow to see effective AI solutions," says Ernst Sack, founder and partner at Blue Bear Capital. "Pani's team combines practical AI development expertise with deep understanding of the water industry – including all of the complex process engineering, chemistry, and energy management required. This allows Pani's software to deliver substantial improvements to not only the bottom-line for treatment facilities, but also their energy and environmental footprint. We at Blue Bear are excited to help Pani scale their impact globally."
Since 2017, Pani has been developing a proprietary data driven platform that helps water treatment facilities improve yield and reduce energy and materials costs
Since 2017, Pani has been developing a proprietary data driven platform that helps water treatment facilities improve yield and reduce energy and materials costs while using only a plant's existing systems and existing sensor data. With a simple integration, Pani is able to implement digital twin simulations and employ advanced analytics to achieve significant efficiency gains covering filtration, chemical treatment, maintenance programs, and more. Quickly growing to become a market leader in this space, Pani's unique, hardware-free and CAPEX-free solution provides real-time operational insights and forecasting on how to improve water and energy use in plants, as well as predict optimal times to perform maintenance.
"We've had an incredible year, and we've been able to demonstrate to several players in the global water treatment market that our solution can easily realize production improvement and efficiency gains in this industry," said CEO Devesh Bharadwaj. "With this new funding round, we are able to scale up our reach in order to help thousands of treatment facilities become more efficient, ultimately reducing their operational expenses, reducing downtime, decreasing energy requirements, and reducing overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the entire industry."
Pani is currently offering the platform as a multi-tiered subscription model, and is applicable to treatment facilities at all levels of digital maturity. Funding will help Pani to globally scale direct sales reach as well as help attract distribution partners in the water industry.
