ZyGreen, an Indian cleantech startup developing India's first effective living algae and multilayer HEPA hybrid air purification system, has been awarded the GENESIS Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) Grant under Cohort 2.0 — a competitive grant program supported by MeitY Startup Hub and hosted by AIC RAISE.
The recognition places ZyGreen among a select cohort of deep-tech startups identified for their innovation potential and readiness to scale. The award was formally presented at the GENESIS Cohort 2.0 ceremony, where the ZyGreen team received the grant in recognition of their work on photobioreactor-based air purification technology.
What ZyGreen Is Building
ZyGreen's core technology combines a living microalgal photobioreactor with a multilayer filtration system — a hybrid approach designed for institutional environments such as offices, schools, colleges, malls, conference halls, and corporate cabins. Unlike conventional air purifiers that address either particulate matter or CO₂, ZyGreen's system is engineered to work on both simultaneously, using biology where chemistry falls short.
The technology has been in active development through a rigorous period of product testing, manufacturing refinement, and B2B market validation across India's institutional segment.
Why This Grant Matters
The GENESIS EIR Grant, administered through MeitY Startup Hub and AIC RAISE, is specifically designed to provide early-stage deep-tech ventures with the infrastructure, mentorship, and capital they need to move from prototype to deployment. Selection into this cohort is based on the technical merit of the solution, its scalability, and its alignment with national innovation priorities.
A Milestone Built on Consistent Technical Work
The ZyGreen team spent the better part of the last year navigating the intersection of biotechnology and hardware engineering — a domain where iteration cycles are long and errors are expensive. Their focus on conservative, verifiable efficacy claims over marketing-first positioning has distinguished them from a crowded field of air purification brands making bold but unverifiable promises.
ZyGreen now has the institutional backing and resources to prove, at scale, what the technology can do for India's indoor air quality problem.
The Institutional Air Quality Problem in India
India's offices, schools, and public spaces have historically had limited access to air purification solutions built specifically for the Indian climate, footprint constraints, and institutional procurement requirements. ZyGreen's positioning — a compact, bio-hybrid system targeting spaces ranging from 500 to 50,000 sq ft — directly addresses this gap.
With urban CO₂ levels in enclosed institutional spaces frequently exceeding 1,000 ppm and PM2.5 regularly crossing safe limits in Indian cities, the demand-side case for scalable institutional air quality solutions has never been stronger.