Thane-based Cooling-as-a-Service (CaaS) platform Circolife has raised $4.5 million, around Rs 40.45 crore, in a pre-Series A funding round led by Bharat Jaisinghani, Joint Managing Director of Polycab India.
The round also saw participation from individual, fund and family-office investors, including Nitish Mittersain, Intelliquity Ventures, Sumit Jalan, Siddharth Ladsariya, Anand Ladsariya, Anant Goenka, Sky Impact Capital, Rohit Dev, and family offices S N Damani and Vyom Wealth.
Circolife plans to use the fresh capital to expand its fleet and geographic presence, strengthen its in-house installation and service capabilities, and further develop its AI-augmented IoT predictive-maintenance and digital twin platform.
Building a Subscription-Based Cooling Model
Founded in 2023 by Abhishek Murarka, Tushar Patil and Devanshu Mishra, Circolife owns, installs and services the air-conditioning units it deploys throughout their working life.
The company operates on a subscription-based model, allowing businesses to access cooling infrastructure without making a large upfront investment.
Under the model, Circolife installs and maintains the air-conditioning units, while customers pay a monthly subscription fee. The company said its units are designed for energy efficiency, while its ownership of the equipment during the contract period allows it to continuously monitor and maintain their performance.
Circolife currently operates across five Indian cities and serves small businesses and enterprise customers across restaurants, hotels, gyms, salons, co-living operators and corporate offices.
IoT and Predictive Maintenance
A key part of Circolife’s platform is its use of embedded IoT sensors in its air-conditioning units.
According to the company, the connected devices track parameters such as temperature, power consumption and gas pressure in real time. The data is then fed into a predictive-maintenance system designed to identify potential equipment failures before they result in breakdowns.
Circolife is also using AI and additional sensors to build digital twins of its deployed devices. The company expects these technologies to help it monitor equipment performance and improve maintenance as its fleet grows.
At the end of an air-conditioning unit’s working life, Circolife refurbishes and redeploys the equipment, allowing it to extend the useful life of its assets.
Expansion Plans
With the latest funding, Circolife plans to expand its fleet and geographic footprint while scaling its in-house installation and servicing capabilities.
The company also intends to invest further in its AI-augmented IoT infrastructure, predictive-maintenance systems and digital twin platform.
Circolife aims to increase its subscription base fourfold and reach 40,000 units within the next 24 months.
Growing Cooling-as-a-Service Market
Cooling-as-a-Service is gaining traction in India’s climate-tech and energy-efficiency startup ecosystem. The model allows businesses to access air-conditioning and cooling infrastructure through subscriptions instead of making significant upfront capital investments.
Smart Joules is another company operating in this space through its JouleCool platform. The company raised $10 million in Series B funding in December last year from SVL SME Neev II Fund, Waaree Renewable Technologies and Spectrum Impact.
Smart Joules is using the funding to expand its cooling and energy-efficiency operations across manufacturing, building automation and district cooling.
Other startups are also exploring the wider cooling-as-a-service and thermal-management market. Tan90, for instance, has raised funding for its thermal-energy-storage solutions and launched a CaaS model for cold-chain businesses.
As businesses look for more efficient ways to manage cooling costs and infrastructure, Circolife is looking to build a larger subscription-based cooling network supported by IoT monitoring, predictive maintenance and AI-driven technology.
-By Shivani Solanki
