Can FluxGen Become The Go-To SaaS Layer For Industrial Water Management?

India, home to nearly 18% of the global populace and armed with only 4% of Earth’s freshwater resources, on the brink of a severe water crisis in the next two years, states the World Economic Forum (WEF) in its Global Risk Report 2025. The fifth-largest economy in the world ranks down at 133rd spot in per-capita water availability index while being the consumer of water, using 20.1% of global water resources.

India’s growing water stress may weigh on its sovereign, credit rating agency Moody’s warned last year. How can India avert the looming threat? The thought takes up a wider mindspace when the fear of going parched begins to haunt. By optimising the usage, suggest startups innovating solutions to keep the tap from running dry.

“We help industries and commercial spaces save water, sometimes as much as 30%, using software that tracks and optimises water usage,” said Ganesh Shankar, who founded FluxGen.

India’s per capita water availability is projected to decrease and 1,140 Cu M by 2050 – down significantly from 1,486 Cu M in 2021, the UN Water Development Report assessed. It warned that India would turn water-stressed this year onwards, with per capita availability slipping below 1,000 Cu M annually.

“Urbanisation and industrialisation are the biggest factors contributing to this water scarcity in India. We chose to work with industries,” said Shankar. works with factories and industries where water use is super high, especially in their production processes, as it aims to enable India to become water-positive. Its computer-based dashboard and mobile app offers 24/7 real-time monitoring of the water infrastructure for its clients to ensure sustainable practices. Its end-to-end water management software platform functions as a SaaS solution.

The company also works with smart cities and commercial establishments such as IT parks, hospitals, office complexes, and various urban infrastructures.

What could be a better place to think of water than Bengaluru? Historically known as the City of a Thousand Lakes, it has been battling a for the last couple of years because of unsustainable groundwater use and an exponential pace of urbanisation. Ganesh Shankar and Emanuel Deepak set up FlexGen in 2021.

Bengaluru’s Shrinking Lakes Set The Stage

The lakes that Shankar saw all over the city when he was a child growing up in Bengaluru, kept shrinking, yielding space to concrete as the city evolved and expanded in leaps and bounds over the years. Some of its most significant places like the Majestic Bus Stand, marketplaces, and even the National Games’ Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium were once lakes.

The city used to get water from nearby natural sources earlier. People had access to wells and drank water directly from them without the need for any external supply. But those wells dried up when Shankar was a schoolgoer.

“Thankfully, there was tap water, but that too became insufficient very soon. Residents had to start building overhead tanks and sumps. Today, even overhead tanks cannot be filled up from groundwater; people depend entirely on water tankers to keep the taps running. That’s how the water situation deteriorated drastically,” said the founder and chief executive.

An unprecedented rise in temperature over the last few years has deepened the blues and pushed Bengaluru to the edge of , which refers to the critical point at which a city’s water supply is predicted to be nearly completely depleted, leaving taps dry and communities parched.

The authorities have long geared up to create awareness among people on saving water, reining in pollution, and preventing groundwater depletion. Shankar and Deepak chose to build their tech-based innovation on this growing awareness at local levels and push for sustainable practices at a global scale.

Shankar was backed by his experience in a solar tech company and a keen interest in environmental science, while Deepak brought with him the experience earned at his earlier stints at Bosch and Larsen & Toubro.

When FluxGen was set up, Bengaluru was losing its ground water reserves at an alarming speed. Buying water from tankers had begun taking a toll on the finances for both households as well as industries. A company that FluxGen engaged with had to halt daily production for nearly 14 days due to a severe water shortage. By the time they resumed operations, many of its customers had shifted to another dairy because dairy products are essential and they can’t wait.

Water is crucial in industries like dairy and farming as much as it is essential in IT. According to the WEF report on water security, artificial intelligence-driven data centres alone may increase global water withdrawals by 4.2-6.6 Bn Cu M by 2027, equivalent to 4-6 times Denmark’s annual consumption.

From Tata To Microsoft: Managing Water Data For 100+ Clients

Before founding his startup, Shankar ran a projects and consulting company focussed on sustainability. He worked across sectors like solar energy, water, and agriculture, taking on various sustainability-related projects. After FluxGen was set up, one of its industrial clients wanted to reduce both their water footprints and dependency on grid and groundwater sources. The goal was to become water positive.

This Tata Group company became one of FluxGen’s earliest customers. The team helped them identify inefficiencies in their water network through digitisation. They installed water flow meters, water level sensors, and water quality sensors, and integrated them into a centralised digital platform. This system provided real-time notifications about leakage, wastage, and usage. As a result, the client was able to reduce their water consumption by nearly 24%.

“That success became a turning point. It showed us that what we had solved for one client could be applied to others as well,” he said.

The company then widened its focus to include food processing and beverage industries, and sectors that are heavy consumers of freshwater. Dairies, for example, are expected to follow industry benchmarks. For every 1 Lakh litre of milk produced, they shouldn’t be consuming more than 1 Lakh litre of water. But in reality, most were exceeding this by a wide margin. FluxGen started working with several dairies, helping them reduce wastage and optimise usage.

Then it expanded to adjacent sectors like pharmaceuticals, which also depend heavily on clean water. “Our focus is making water data transparent and clear, based on the belief that ‘what can be measured can be managed’. That’s the core of our working principle,” said the FluxGen founder.

“We make water-related data available, accessible, and understandable. The goal is to ensure that industries have all the information they need to take meaningful, actionable steps towards reducing their water consumption. Because once the data is clear, the decisions become clearer too,” he added.

A faster and smarter way to handle water woes helps industries, factories, businesses and offices secure the essential compliance requirements. As regulations imposed by organisations like CGWA, BRSR, and CPCB, became stricter, the queue outside FluxGen for bagging the green certification turned longer. “We have many clients facing some form of regulatory pressure and urgently need to conserve water,” said Shankar. Some clients also sign up FluxGen to be leaders in water conservation in their respective industries.

“One of our key value propositions was around regulatory compliance. For example, the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) has clear mandates: industries must track their groundwater extraction and either reduce it by up to 20%, or improve groundwater levels by the same percentage. This created an opening for us. Even if companies weren’t immediately looking for end-to-end water management solutions, they needed to comply with these rules and we were able to get our foot in the door,” Shankar said.

Today, FluxGen claims to have worked with over 100 companies. According to the founder, it enabled Tata Steel to cut water withdrawal in mining operations by nearly 50% and reduce plant-level consumption by 26%. The startup has also partnered with Microsoft to support water stewardship efforts at its Hyderabad campus.

FluxGen worked in healthcare institutions like CARE Hospitals to help them monitor and optimise water usage at a granular level with its water monitoring application.

Inside FluxGen Tech Stack

FluxGen has built AquaGen, a water intelligence suite, to track water flow and water levels on a real-time basis with which a user can optimise the water usage, boost operational efficiency, and promote sustainable practices.

FluxGen’s computer-based dashboard and mobile app for real-time monitoring of the water infrastructure work on an assembly of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, which are connected to various key points in the client’s water system. With this setup, it can track water flow, pressure, tank levels, sump levels, water quality, and even groundwater levels.

The startup also uses geospatial imaging to identify water-stressed areas. For instance, it can pinpoint aquifers in specific locations that are running low and suggest actionable steps for water replenishment, whether for compliance or for sustainability projects.
One of the key components of FluxGen’s tech solution to water management is Aqua GPT, a generative AI-based tool that sends out prescriptive alerts and suggests actionable insights to help identify inefficiencies in the water network, such as leaks, wastage, and excessive usage.

It also integrates data from SCADA systems and combines it with the IoT inputs and geospatial imaging to offer a complete picture. On top of that, it has launched genAI support, which provides intelligent recommendations on how clients can reduce their water consumption.

The INR 100 Cr Revenue Aspiration

The startup follows an asset-seeding yearly subscription model. Since there’s a hardware component involved in the first year – sensors for measuring flow, level, and quality – FluxGen bundles that along with the software platform and implementation costs. After the initial setup, customers move to an annual SaaS subscription, which also includes an annual maintenance contract as part of the offering.

“We’ve seen strong traction. In FY24, we clocked approximately $500,000 in revenue, and in FY25, we hope to have neared $1 Mn, nearly a 100% year-on-year growth,” Shankar said. “Our goal is to achieve INR 100 Cr (around $11.6 Mn) in revenue over the next three years.”

FluxGen recently , led by IAN Alpha Fund.

The startup has expanded its services beyond India to areas where water is significantly expensive. It deployed its solutions in geographies across the Middle East and Africa, including the UAE (Sharjah, Dubai), Oman, Madagascar (southern part), and Benin. “These are water-stressed regions that rely heavily on desalination. The higher cost of water makes our solution even more economically attractive,” the founder added.

FluxGen is also expanding across multiple business units and sites of existing enterprise clients, both in India and abroad. “Our vision extends beyond just improving water efficiency, we’re also enabling clients to improve rainwater harvesting, wastewater treatment, and build water resilience into their long-term sustainability goals,” Shankar said.

Some of its Indian multinational clients have also started rolling out the FluxGen platform in their overseas outfits. “After full deployment across their Indian sites, one major customer introduced us to their African operations, where its solution is now being deployed.”

Water management remains a largely untapped opportunity. With global investments in water infrastructure accelerating amid rising climate concerns, interest in the projected to reach $43.52 Bn by 2032, is gaining momentum. Yet, the space still lacks full-stack digital players equipped to address the opportunity at scale.

In India, the water infrastructure or water treatment chemical market is valued at $2.8 Bn, according to an estimate by financial services firm Prabhudas Lilladher. “India’s ability to grow from a $4 Tn economy to a $30 Tn economy is fundamentally a function of water,” former NITI Aayog chief Amitabh Kant said recently. With the government beefing up its efforts towards smarter water resource management, startups like FluxGen have a bright prospect along the road ahead.

[Edited By Kumar Chatterjee]

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