In a defining moment for India-Singapore deep-tech
collaboration, Dr. Durga Das, Founder & CEO of Aeronero Global, has secured
a landmark victory at NEXTLEAP 2025 — the flagship startup acceleration
initiative proudly presented by the ICAI Singapore Chapter in collaboration
with BeyondSeed, commemorating 60 years of India–Singapore diplomatic relations.
From an elite field of 50 high-potential startups,
only 10 were selected to pitch before Union Ministers, sovereign investors,
global family offices, and industry leaders. Aeronero Global emerged as one of
the top winners, its atmospheric water generation (AWG) technology recognised
as mission-critical infrastructure for a water-stressed Asia-Pacific and
beyond.
This triumph is a strategic inflection point. The win
fast-tracks Aeronero’s establishment of Aeronero Singapore as its Asia-Pacific
headquarters and centre of excellence, enabling rapid scaling across ASEAN,
Australia, Japan, Korea, and the Pacific Islands — delivering decentralised,
renewable water at nation-state velocity.
Dr. Durga Das stated: “Winning NEXTLEAP 2025 is rocket
fuel for a vision that turns humidity into sovereignty. Establishing Aeronero
Singapore positions us at the heart of Asia-Pacific’s climate-resilience
capital stack and allows us to make water independence an engineered
non-issue.”
Ravi Karkara, Global Chief Strategic Officer and
Co-Founder of the Global Air Water Generation Initiative, added: “Dr. Durga Das
and Aeronero are not building a company — they are building the
operating system for water resilience in the 21st century.”
“When Indian deep-tech founders like Durga choose
Singapore as their springboard, the Global South doesn’t just adapt to climate
reality — it redefines it.”
With priority access to Singapore government grants,
EDB introductions, and BeyondSeed’s growth ecosystem now unlocked, Aeronero
Singapore will commence operations in Q1 2026, targeting multi-year frameworks
with defence, disaster-response, and smart-city authorities across the region.
The future of water in Asia-Pacific will be
decentralised, renewable, and — decisively — Indian-origin.
