The company has designed and manufactured precise temperature-controlled boxes for last-mile delivery of COVID-19 vaccines
Pluss Advanced Technologies (PLUSS) is in discussions with investors from India and abroad for the second round of funding for research and development (R&D) of new products, a top company executive said.
The Delhi-based company had last month announced designing and manufacturing of precise temperature-controlled boxes for delivery of COVID-19 vaccines.
“We are cash positive right now, but that does not allow us to do further research on new products. So we are in the process of exploring opportunities for the second round of funding,” Samit Jain, Managing Director, PLUSS Advanced Technologies said.
Jain said that ‘ideally’ the requirement for capital is to the tune of $ 5-6 million (about Rs 36-44 crore) and discussions are on with investors both from India and outside.
Stating that the company was’ lucky’ to have got funds from the Tata Group for a business which has a low growth rate, he said the interest from investors is higher in the second round of funding.
The company has also been a key player in the central government”s pulse polio immunization programme with its temperature-controlled storage and transportation solutions.
“Our business is different from others in the manner that it takes a long time to get the product out and validate it,” Jain said.
While transporting pharma or biological products or vaccines, in particular, the need to maintain precise temperature ranges is very important and the efficacy of vaccines can be impacted if the temperature goes above or below the specified range, according to the company.
“We have also tied up with a partner in the US for the local assembly of the boxes there. There are different models that we are looking at to cater to the US and European markets,” Jain said.
The company has boxes right from the standard pallet size, which are 500-1,000 kg in size and used for exports, to the very small size like 3-litre boxes for last-mile delivery (to vaccination centres). The company is currently manufacturing around 10,000-15,000 boxes per month and is expanding as it has taken an additional 15,000 sq feet of space near its facility in Bawal (Haryana), which can accommodate another 15,000 boxes a month.
The company is looking to earn revenue of Rs 50 crore next year.
“We are looking at rapid growth. Last year, we closed at (revenue of) $4 million (around Rs 29 crore). This year we are targeting almost 30 per cent growth and next year we are looking at a revenue of almost Rs 50 crore,” Jain said.
“We are already at a run rate of just below Rs 6 crore a month in the last two months,” he added.
PTI
