Embrace the future of home comfort with the Karban – a sophisticated device with a fusion of a bladeless fan, air purifier, and light. Gain deeper insight with EFY’s Yashasvini Razdan as she explores the innovative vision of Karan Bansal, Airzone from Karban Envirotech Private Limited.
Q. What products are you offering currently?
A. We have two products – Karban Airzone and Airzone Lite. The former features a fan light and air purifier, primarily designed for larger spaces, while the latter includes our patented 3-in-1 devices aimed at compact spaces. This decision was driven by customer demand for an entry-level product suitable for offices or smaller areas.
Q. How efficient is this air-purification technology if only 20% to 30% of the air is being purified in one cycle?
A. The concept is not to run the purifier for a short duration to clean the entire room and then shut it off, waiting for pollution to build up again before running it once again. Instead, the objective is for the product to keep running as a fan while continuously cleaning the air. Our aim is to maintain the pollution level below a certain threshold at all times rather than rapidly removing it within a short duration. with Karban, you get purified air right in your breathing zone without having to wait for hours to clean a space.
Q. What design challenges did you solve to build this product?
A. The effectiveness of this process depends on the design of both the housing and the rotor blades. Optimisation is crucial to generate efficient airflow. Poor design can result in random airflow, making it unpredictable where the airflow will be directed. We continuously optimised the design, running numerous simulations using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. leveraging our aerospace engineering expertise to enhance the product’s efficiency.
Q. What role does the CFD software play in product development?
A. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) allows us to optimise airflow and make it both efficient and effective. The better the results in CFD simulations, the more likely the appliance is to work efficiently. CFD software allows us to create a computer-aided design (CAD) model of the geometry or housing and simulate airflow interactions. By making iterative changes to the design in the CFD software, we can optimise airflow without relying solely on physical prototypes. This significantly reduces design optimisation time compared to traditional methods, where physical prototypes are built and tested iteratively. In the past, companies relied heavily on physical prototypes, which was time-consuming. However, with CFD simulations, we reduced design optimisation time by up to one-fourth or even one-tenth to one-hundredth in some cases. CFD played a crucial role in helping us achieve an optimal design for our product.
Q. Why did you choose a biodegradable filter?
A. We merged the airflow from the purifier with that of the fan to save energy. Unlike a traditional air purifier, this method avoids pushing the entire air volume through a HEPA filter, which typically incurs significant pressure drop. Instead, we pass it through a biodegradable filter, allowing both functions run concurrently without using excessive energy for air purification.
Q. What is the lifespan of the biodegradable filter that you put in there?
A. We indicated that the filter would work effectively for four to six months before needing replacement, depending on the city. Once disposed of in a compostable setting, these filters will degrade within three to four months, regardless of the particulate matter they capture. While the captured particulate matter may end up in a landfill, the filter itself, made of natural fibres, will degrade naturally.
Q. How much energy does it consume?
A. Each side of the Karban Airzone, (each blower), consumes around 27W of electricity at the maximum setting. The light operates independently as a standard LED, providing around 25W of power and emitting 2000 lumens. In comparison, a BLDC fan typically consumes about 30W-40W of energy. When combined with an air purifier running in the room, the total power consumption ranges from 60W to 120W. The fan and purifier operate simultaneously; you cannot run the fan without the purifier. However, if air purification is unnecessary in your region, you can remove the filters and use the device solely as a fan.
Q. Can you control the temperature settings?
A. You cannot control the temperature setting, but you can control the speed of the fan. There are eight speed levels on either side. With your AC, you can either run it at 22˚C, which is a temperature you are more accustomed to, or you can run Karban Airzone along with your AC at 26˚C. With Karban Airzone you can save up to 30% on electricity bills for air conditioning, which is one of the highest energy-consuming devices in your home. Given the 30% reduction in electricity bills, I think it is worth using it with a plan.
Q. Tell me about your expansion plans?
A. We are looking to move to a more scalable version of the product and add more products to our portfolio. currently, we plan to expand the team because it will require a lot of people with critical problem-solving skills to work together to get to those new products that we have in mind. So, we are looking to hire people in our engineering team, and for scaling, we are hiring for our sales and marketing team as well.
Q. Are there any other products in the market which offer similar functionalities?
A. As for existing products in the market, the closest we found was Dyson air purifiers. While they primarily function as air purifiers, many people use them as personal fans by directing the airflow towards themselves. Bladeless fans from companies like Xcel offer different concepts, such as radial airflow, but their suitability for every household may vary.
Q. Do you also customise the sizes or is it available in a fixed size?
A. It is available in a fixed size and comes in three colours. While colour customisation is possible, it incurs an additional cost.
Q. Where are you sourcing your components from?
A. We have vendors all over the country, including Delhi, Mumbai, Indore, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, and Pune. We have our own manufacturing facility where we first make the housing from scratch. Once the paintwork is done, we assemble the electronics components, do a quality check, package them, and then we ship them out.
Q. To whom have you outsourced the PCB manufacturing?
A. From India. I am not allowed to name the partner right now, but we do everything from India.
Q. Do you have your own testing and validation facility as well?
A. Yes, we have a testing lab where all our development testing and prototyping is done. Apart from that, we have been in constant touch with BIS to set up standards for Karban as its new category product, and they currently do not have testing structures in place. We have certain checks in place where we test them ourselves, but once we get to the next version, which you are working on with the BLDC motor, we will get it checked by a proper testing company. Since it is a new product, there are not many standards available to test it, so we will have to work with BIS to set up those standards.
Q. How many people do you have in your team right now?
A. We currently have 19 full-time employees. Our research team consists of engineers and industrial designers. We also have roles for accounting, factory management, and manufacturing employees.
Q. What kind of funding have you received for this startup?
A. In December 2022, the first prototype was ready. In January 2023, we received around one million rupees from CIIE.CO as part of Startup India’s seed fund scheme, which was in the form of a convertible debenture. We used this funding to set up our manufacturing facility and further improve the prototype to develop a commercial version over the next six months. Since then, we have been working very frugally with the money and running our day-to-day operations on a budget. Meanwhile, we reached out to some investors through which we were able to raise additional funding. In April 2024, we raised a funding of US $1.07 million in a seed round led by Titan Capital, Rainmatter and All in Capital. Among the other investors in the seed round were JK Family Office and Urban Company. A few other well-known investors are Sarang Iyengar, Karan Jindal, Atul Gupta, Abhishek Goyal, Kunal Shah, Anupam Mittal (Shark Tank India), Bharat Jaisinghiani, and Sumer Sethi. While the initial limited fund helped us introduce our MVP in the market and make alterations based on valuable customer feedback, with the latest round, we plan to expand our team and work on the new scalable product, which is more advanced and exciting in features.
Q. Do you plan to stay in Jaipur or are you planning to move to any other big city?
A. We have chosen to remain in Jaipur because of the talented workforce, cost-effectiveness, and favourable industrial environment. It is working well for us currently, with ample sourcing options and lower expenses compared to larger cities. However, we are open to change if needed in the future, potentially expanding to other locations to optimize logistics and operations.
Q. With this product, who is your target consumer, a regular household or is it for commercial settings?
A. It is versatile in its placement; its minimal design makes it suitable for offices, homes, auditoriums, and schools, and in places where safety is a concern, such as rooms with low ceiling heights or children’s rooms, where traditional fans could pose a risk of injury.
