From Struggle to Spark
Growing up in Mumbai, Angad Daryani’s earliest memories were shaped by cold winters, thick smog, and frequent asthma attacks realities that compelled his family to leave the city every winter. Rather than accepting these hardships as inevitable, young Angad channeled his frustration into innovation. From an early age, he built robots, experimented with 3D printers, and questioned everything: “Why accept polluted air as normal?” By the time he joined the prestigious Georgia Institute of Technology to study Electrical Engineering, the answer had become clear: he would fight air pollution not with masks or despair but with invention.
From Dorm-room Prototype to Global Vision
In 2017, during his sophomore year, Angad began working on what would become Praan — a bold attempt to build a filter‑less air purification system capable of cleaning vast amounts of air, not just small rooms. His first prototype was a humble paint‑bucket‑motor setup. Every week, he would carry this rudimentary purifier nearly two miles to the campus makerspace, determined to iterate, test, and improve. He wasn’t after gadgets for the elite — his mission was simple: factories, schools, public spaces, everyday people — those who cannot afford luxury. After years of bootstrapping, volunteer help, sleepless nights in parking lots and terraces, Praan’s first functional purifier — the MK One — was born. The ambition had turned tangible.
Innovation Under Fire: Building Praan, Against All Odds
Angad didn’t just create another air purifier — he reinvented how air purification works. Instead of using disposable filters that clog up and contribute to pollution again, Praan’s system uses advanced ionic charge dispersion and airflow design to trap pollutants in a collection chamber — a process that significantly cuts down on maintenance costs and environmental harm. The startup’s flagship products — from the outdoor-scale MK One to the industrial-grade MK II and a sleek home/office unit called HIVE — are designed to serve a wide range of spaces: factories, schools, malls, airports, and homes — places where air pollution is most severe. The company has already raised funding, including from investors backing climate-tech ventures, and has received support from organizations like the Marico Innovation Foundation for scale-up assistance.
Vision, Purpose, and the Road Ahead
For Angad, clean air is not a privilege — it’s a human right. More than business, Praan represents a mission: to make clean air accessible, affordable, and sustainable. His approach combines deep‑tech engineering, manufacturing oversight, and empathy — because he’s lived the pollution crisis himself. Praan chooses to manufacture in India (over 90% local sourcing), ensuring supply‑chain control and affordability. Beyond purifiers, Angad envisions carbon capture, air‑quality mapping, bio‑engineering and ecosystem rehabilitation — a holistic blueprint to reclaim breathable Earth, one polluted city at a time.
His journey reminds us: when personal pain meets purpose-driven innovation, even the dirtiest cities can breathe new hope.
Life Lessons from Angad
1.Inventiveness — Transforming childhood frustration with polluted air into action, Angad engineered the first functional Praan purifier from a paint bucket and motor, demonstrating how nascent ideas can catalyze climate-tech revolutions.
2.Tenacity — Navigating repeated prototype failures, investor skepticism, and sleepless nights optimizing airflow systems, Angad’s relentless perseverance converted adversity into a scalable, real-world clean-air solution.
3.Altruistic Innovation — Designing Praan for schools, factories, and communities rather than affluent consumers, Angad prioritized societal welfare and accessibility, exemplifying innovation with empathy.
4.Ecological Prudence — By pioneering filterless purifiers, Angad eliminated recurring waste and reduced environmental impact, underscoring that sustainable design is a non-negotiable mandate for meaningful innovation.
5.Visionary Stewardship — Beyond product creation, Angad embeds climate-conscious technology, manufacturing oversight, and public health imperatives, illustrating that entrepreneurs must wield influence responsibly to benefit society and environment alike.
Innovation That Breathes
Angad Daryani’s story shows that when you turn personal struggle into systemic purpose, invention becomes revolution. From paint‑bucket prototypes to climate‑tech startup scaling across borders, he proves that innovation isn’t luxury — it’s necessity.
I build not for the privileged who can afford air — I build for the millions who deserve to breathe.
Ziddh Takeaway-
Angad Daryani’s journey reminds us that change doesn’t wait for permission —
it begins the moment we refuse to accept what’s broken.
His story proves that innovation isn’t about privilege, perfect labs, or polished beginnings — it’s about urgency, ownership, and uncomfortable persistence.
