Respirer’s Made-in-India tech recognised internationally

Also, news about our corporate investor and our data analytics initiative

We bring you some exciting news! Respirer Living Sciences’ Atmos device, which measures particulate matter, has received an international scientific thumbs-up! Plus, we now have an industry giant as a corporate investor, and our air pollution data analytics initiative is being widely covered in the media. Read on…   

Global scientific validation of Respirer’s air quality monitor

Respirer’s Atmos devices (in red box) on the cover of a report by Airparif, which evaluated the entries for the AIRLAB Microsensors Challenge 2023

In 2023, Respirer’s Atmos monitor was part of the 4^th edition of the international AIRLAB Microsensors Challenge 2023, which evaluates the performance of sensor-based air quality monitoring devices under real conditions. Four Atmos devices, installed at indoor and outdoor locations in France and Thailand, performed well on accuracy, utility and overall usability.

This rigorous and independent evaluation was carried out by Airparif, a French government-accredited non-profit which monitors air quality in the Paris region, and AIRLAB, its open innovation laboratory. The evaluation was supported by the Clean Air Fund, among other organisations.

Airparif’s evaluation of Respirer’s Atmos air quality monitor says that two devices performed well on accuracy, utility and overall usability

Atmos was one of 59 air quality monitoring devices made by 33 companies in 13 countries to participate in the challenge – and Respirer was one of two companies representing India. Airparif evaluated these devices holistically and looked at five major criteria: accuracy, utility, usability, portability or form factor, and cost.

Two of Respirer’s Atmos-PM monitors performed exceedingly well on accuracy, especially the co-efficient of determination or R² (which testifies to the accuracy of a device). The two devices had an R² of 0.90 and 0.89 for PM₁ (ultra-fine particulate matter) and an R² of 0.84 for both devices for PM_2.5 (fine particulate matter). The R² of both Atmos-PM devices was higher than the U.S. EPA-recommended score of 0.7, further testifying to their accuracy.

When it came to utility, the devices scored 9.3/10 in an outdoor situation and 9.5/10 in an indoor situation. Additionally, they scored 10/10 on ease of use and 7.1/10 on overall usability.

Airparif’s interactive web platform with the results of the AIRLAB Microsensors Challenge 2023

This performance review of the Atmos devices is an important milestone for Respirer as Airparif’s evaluations are widely respected in the world of air quality monitoring technologies. This evaluation is also a recognition of Made-in-India air quality monitoring technologies, which are now competing at the global level.

Respirer welcomes Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited as a corporate investor

In 2023, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), a Maharatna Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) in India that’s ranked 367^th on the Fortune Global 500 companies list, joined the first round of investors in Respirer. We’re excited to be working with this industry giant!

The website of Udgam – HPCL Startup Initiative, which facilitated HPCL’s investment in Respirer

Here’s how it all happened. As a finalist in the National Startup Awards 2020, Respirer had the opportunity to make a presentation before PSUs interested in investing in startups. This was part of a PSU-Startup connect programme organised by Invest India, the government’s investment promotion agency, and the Startup India programme of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). In the audience was none other than the team of Udgam, HPCL’s startup initiative.

Subsequently, in mid-2022, the Udgam team expressed interest in investing in Respirer and eventually signed on the dotted line on June 27, 2023. HPCL, which is over 70 years old and has an annual revenue of nearly $60 billion, has understood how the monitoring and mitigation of methane gas emissions and air pollution can be done at scale. We, at Respirer, are thrilled to welcome this industry giant as a corporate investor and to learn about how industrial emissions can be monitored at scale and how a Just Transition can be undertaken for a sustainable future. We look forward to working with this Maharatna!

Respirer Reports: Our data analytics initiative

Since October 2023, the beginning of India’s peak pollution season (roughly October–March), Respirer has published data-driven reports on air pollution in cities across the country. This data analytics initiative, called Respirer Reports, analyses raw data about air pollutants (especially PM_2.5 and PM₁₀) released by the Central Pollution Control Board, and identifies annual, quarterly and monthly air pollution trends.

The idea behind Respirer Reports is to make air quality data accessible through analysis, and enable citizens and governments to push for policies that can reduce air pollution. To this end, we have actively engaged with the media, which has widely covered our reports.

Our first report, a collaboration with Climate Trends, looked at PM_2.5 levels in India’s 10 most polluted cities and six state capitals. It covered by over 50 publications in English, Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati. Subsequent reports by the Respirer Reports team have been covered by major national dailies such as The Times of India, Mint, Hindustan Times and The Indian Express, among others. Our latest report, Five years of the National Clean Air Programme, analyses the performance of 131 non-attainment cities in reducing air pollution between 2019 and 2023.