Driptech closes series A investment round led by Vinod Khosla

Contact: Jean Shia

Driptech, inc.

2580 Wyandotte St., Suite B

Mountain View, CA 94043

+1 650-353-2688

jean@driptech.com

Driptech, inc. Closes Series A Funding from Khosla Impact Equity financing led by Vinod Khosla through new social venture fund; Capital will accelerate company expansion and benefit small-plot farmers around the world.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – January 11, 2012 – Driptech, inc. (www.driptech.com), a for-profit social enterprise that makes affordable irrigation products for small-plot farmers, announced today that it has completed its Series A funding led by Khosla Impact, a social venture capital fund founded by noted entrepreneur and investor Vinod Khosla. The round also incorporated a strategic investment from Westlake Chemical Corporation of Houston, Texas. The new capital will be used to expand Driptech’s global operations to reach more of the world’s small-plot farmers.

“We’re honored to partner with such excellent investors,” said Peter Frykman, Founder and CEO of Driptech. “Their expertise and resources will help us scale to achieve tremendous social and financial impact. Both Khosla Impact and Westlake bring unique insight to our next stage of growth.”

Founded in 2008, Driptech deploys an award-winning, proprietary manufacturing technology that produces affordable, high quality drip irrigation systems. Unlike commercial drip irrigation, the Driptech system is designed specifically for the 600 million small-plot farmers suffering from water scarcity globally. It works with low-pressure water, resists clogging, and is easy for farmers to install and maintain themselves. Small-plot farmers who were previously unable to afford drip irrigation are now able to greatly increase their income through water and labor savings along with improved crop yields.

The insight for Driptech came when mechanical engineer Peter Frykman, then a Stanford University graduate student, traveled to Ethiopia as part of the course “Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability.” He witnessed firsthand the hardship caused to many small-plot farmers by the drought cycle, leaving them with severely limited water resources and no means to irrigate their crops effectively. Locally available drip irrigation products were too expensive for most farmers and seldom worked properly at small-scale. It became clear that there was a tremendous need to develop affordable and appropriate irrigation solutions for small-plot farmers. After receiving his Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Peter founded Driptech to address this need in a sustainable and scalable way.

Driptech launched commercially in India in January 2011 in partnership with local rural distributors. The new funding will support Driptech’s plans to rapidly expand local distribution and deploy manufacturing facilities closer to its customers. The company focuses on optimizing the entire system for designing, manufacturing, and delivering irrigation products to this underserved market.

"Through modular manufacturing and affordable, easy to use products, Driptech is bringing professional design to the small-plot farmer," said Vinod Khosla. "This is precisely the kind of development that maximizes human potential, while minimizing the use of water, an increasingly precious resource in India, and around the world."

About Driptech

Driptech is an award-winning, revenue-generating, venture capital-backed social enterprise with offices in India, China, and Silicon Valley. Through proprietary manufacturing and novel distribution, Driptech makes affordable and appropriate drip irrigation technology for small-plot farmers in developing countries. Driptech is a 2012 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, a Social Venture Network Innovation Award Winner, and a 2009 Tech Award Laureate for Technology Benefiting Humanity. For more information, please visit www.driptech.com.

About Khosla Impact

Khosla Impact is a social venture capital fund, founded by Vinod Khosla, that invests in world-class entrepreneurs who are passionate about solving challenging, often intractable socio-economic problems through careful application of science, technology, and design or through creative business models. The Impact Fund evaluates a wide range of social ventures but is primarily focused on for-profit social enterprises serving the poor: low-income laborers, farmers and families, as well as small businesses in emerging markets.

About Westlake Chemical Corporation

Westlake Chemical (NYSE: WLK) is a premier international manufacturer and supplier of petrochemicals, polymers and building products. Operating from 14 facilities across North America and one in China, they produce approximately 11 billion pounds of product per year and generated $3.2 billion in annual revenue in 2010. Their offerings are the building blocks for a wide variety of consumer and industrial products, including food packaging, automotive products, coatings, as well as building and construction materials, including pipe for water, sewer and irrigation applications along with profiles for windows, fencing and decking.

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Gravity drip systems for small plot farmers in Orissa

by Sarah Lee

Driptech’s affordable drip irrigation systems are dotting the countryside in the eastern Indian state of Orissa. Phase two of the Kechla drip irrigation project is being rolled out in collaboration with Kopernik, an international technology marketplace, and Auro-Mira Service Society (AMSS), a local NGO involved in education and environment work. Nearly 70 small plot farmers are investing in drip irrigation to bolster their incomes and food security throughout the year.

Back in April, prior to the monsoon rain, farmers attended local language community meetings to learn about the water-saving, labor-saving, and yield-increasing benefits of drip irrigation. They vied with one another to be selected for one of the two demonstration plots during the phase one pilot project.

Rogenath (pictured below) was one of these eager farmers, but since his field was tucked away from the view of passersby it didn’t have the high visibility needed for the initial demonstration plots. After the monsoon rains ended and the rollout of phase two of the Kechla drip irrigation project started, Rogenath’s system was the first to be installed. His 250 square meter plot is located right beside a small creek, which, when dammed to create a small reservoir, will provide an easy water source just steps away from his drip irrigation tank. As the first installation wrapped up and Rogenath could see his system in place, he asked how many drip holes were on the plot. When he calculated that he could grow at least 875 tomato plants during the dry season, a broad smile spread across his face.

Excited at the prospect of a dry season tomato crop, Rogenath poses with his daughter in front of his Driptech system

For some farmers in Kechla like Rogenath, drip irrigation provides the only realistic means of cultivating vegetables during the dry season. Nakul (pictured below in blue) previously carried buckets of water from a small stream in a ravine 50m away to hand water his chili crop. Now he can deliver this hard-earned water precisely to his crops rather than wastefully splashing it across the earth and inadvertently irrigating weeds.

Nakul with project installation team Annie (Kopernik), Sudam (AMSS), and Runa (AMSS), is relieved that drip irrigation will save him from the burden of hand-watering his chili crop

For other farmers in Kechla, drip irrigation represents a step-wise improvement from labor-intensive flood irrigation. Jogenath, another farmer in the community, wanted to install a Driptech system so that he wouldn’t have to spend time and energy moving mud to temporarily channel the flow of a stream through furrows in his field. Now he can simply fill his tank and control irrigation with the turn of a valve.

Driptech irrigation saves time and labor when compared to flood irrigation

Phase two of the Kechla drip irrigation project is in full swing. After a five day training by Driptech, the implementation team composed of AMSS staff, a Kopernik fellow, and local day laborers are disbursing materials and teaching Kechla farmers how to install and maintain their drip systems.

Farmers come to the local NGO to pick up their supplies

Job Posting: Electromechanical Systems Engineer

Come join Driptech, a for-profit, impact-focused, socially beneficial startup chosen as a 2012 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, named by BusinessWeek as one of the world's most intriguing new companies, and voted by its readers as one of the top 5 most promising social ventures in America.

Driptech is laser-focused on making affordable irrigation technologies for small-plot farmers in developing countries. Our early-stage, Mountain View, CA based venture is scaling up for high-volume commercial roll-outs in India and China. By joining the Driptech team you will be part of a compelling social venture that aims to produce a global impact. To achieve this goal we are implementing globally distributed manufacturing systems and the innovative technology required to make it happen. We are rapidly scaling our production capacity and we need your help!

At Driptech, you will use your skills and intelligence to create direct impact on the livelihoods and quality of life of small-plot farmers.

Driptech is seeking an enthusiastic and highly capable Electromechanical Systems Engineer. This full-time position is available immediately. It requires strong circuit and software development skills. The ideal candidate will have first-hand experience with how products are specified, designed, developed, validated, manufactured, inspected, and released for sale. The position requires direct, hands-on experience in designing and manufacturing products, as well as a proactive, dedicated, and hardworking mentality. You'll be working closely with the Engineering Manager, Mechanical Engineers, Director of Operations, and business partners. This position will provide ample opportunities to travel to India and China. 10% will be required as a minimum.

Responsibilities
• Design and develop the analog and digital circuits of our proprietary laser-manufacturing technology
• Design, code, and test software for embedded micro-controllers operating in extreme industrial environments
• Develop and test optical sensing systems for Quality Assurance purposes
• Source and procure off-the-shelf electronic and electromechanical parts
• Create schematics, layouts, BOMs and wiring harness documentation for new parts and assemblies
• Design wiring harnesses to connect PCBs and modules
• Help establish and support manufacturing in the US, India, China, and other nations as we continue to grow
• Assemble and test circuit boards and wiring harnesses using soldering irons, crimp tools, etc
• Coordinate with outside vendors to fabricate custom electronics
• Help evaluate and improve the quality and reliability of our manufacturing technology
Background and Skills
• 3+ years experience in electro-mechanical system design and product development
• Masters in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering, focusing on mechatronics, robotics, electromechanical systems, or equivalent
• Demonstrated digital and analog circuit design, fabrication, and debugging experience
• Demonstrated embedded programming experience in C or C++
• Experience using a variety of sensors
• Hands-on mechanical skills, and a passion for making things

Desired Extras
• Passion for engineering with social impact
• Experience with optics, machine vision, and lasers
• Experience working in highly innovative, design-driven environments
• Altium Designer schematic capture & PCB layout
• Experience building system models, using them for analysis, simulation, and control
• Other software: LabVIEW, Matlab, Simulink, etc.
• Experience working in China or India and relevant language skills
• Reliability and Quality engineering skills, e.g. Design For Six Sigma
• Quality Control & Statistical Process Control
• Machining skills, CAD, CAM, and CNC

Compensation
Driptech offers a competitive salary and benefits package commensurate with our funding stage.

How to Apply
Please submit your resume and cover letter to: jobs@driptech.com with "Electromechanical Systems Engineer" in the subject. To learn more about Driptech, please visit our website at www.driptech.com

Driptech Turns 3!

Driptech survived terrible two and is charging through tantrum three! This past Saturday we celebrated Driptech's 3rd birthday by throwing a barbecue with 65 of our closest friends and biggest supporters.

The barbecue topped off what has been a very exciting summer for the company. Since last year Driptech's team has grown to 25 full-time employees, signed on 5 new partners, shipped more than 45 tons of drip tape to India, and added production capacity in China. In addition, we recently received the SF Business Times Cleantech + Sustainability Award, the SVN Innovation Award, and were selected by the World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer and named one of the GoingGreen Global 200 Top Private Companies- so there was much to celebrate!

Hydrated with Gordon Biersch beer (graciously donated by Dan Gordon) and Honest Tea (graciously donated by Seth Goldman) we enjoyed mingling, shooting hoops and getting back in touch with our elementary school days with a game of four square.

Driptech HQ

Peter and Whit work the crowd

Don Allen speaks with Jim Patell

Rob, Whit, Peter and Sarah enjoying the Gordon Biersch beer

Jackie, Jessica, Austin and Joe warm-up the four square court

New Driptech record holder?

Thank you Gordon Biersch!

Thank you Honest Tea!

We were delighted to see so many of Driptech's supporters turn-out this weekend to celebrate another year of success. We wouldn't have gotten to where we are today without the tremendous help of our friends and advisors. Your introductions and goodwill have led to valuable team members and partnerships. For those of you who couldn't make it, you were sorely missed but we hope to see you next year when we turn 4!

To view more pictures from the event, please visit our picasa album

Introducing Driptech's 2011 Summer Interns

This summer we hired 4 exceptional interns to work with our techdev team that we'd like to introduce to all our followers.

Meet Brian Argyres

Brian is specializing in Mechatronics at Stanford University for his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering. He is also a teaching assistant at the Stanford University Product Realization Lab. In his spare time, Brian loves to play basketball, ping pong, or spend time working on various personal projects. He is very excited to be working for Driptech this summer and to experience what it is like to be part of a young start up.

Meet Jackie Rogoff

Jackie earned her BS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT with a concentration in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. She just finished year one of her MS at Stanford and is excited to experience her first job at a start up while sharpening her engineering skills. Her past projects include: writing code for Music21, a software suite for musicologists, design and manufacturing projects through 2.007, 2.008, and 2.009 at MIT, and last but not least projects associated with Stanford's yearlong smart product design course. In her spare time, Jackie is training to run a half marathon in July and a full marathon in October.

Meet Kiran Malladi

Kiran is from right down the road from Driptech. He was born at Stanford hospital, never left, and keeps making plans to stick around (except for this summer). He recently graduated from the Stanford Product Design undergraduate program and will be starting a Master's in Mechanical Engineering with a focus in Mechatronics in the fall. He's really excited to ship out to Pune, India for Driptech to test his skills in the field and learn a whole host of new things over the summer. Kiran loves burritos, good coffee, and dance music.

Meet Tej Bhadbhade

Tej is originally from Pune, India. He completed his bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering at VIT Pune, Pune University. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University with a specialization in Mechatronics. He’s enjoying his first job in the U.S. here at Driptech. Aside from work, Tej is really into playing squash, listening to music and reading. He’s learning to play the grand piano this summer and wants to learn how to surf, make an autonomous quadrotor and go skydiving!

Our portable demo plot was looking rather shabby so the first project we tasked the interns with was to refurbish the demo plot. Below are some pictures of them in action.

Tej, Brian, and Jackie quickly figure out what it takes to fix-up our demo plot

Already getting their hands dirty first week on the job

Success!

Tej, Jackie, and Brian show off their successful refurbishment

Our summer interns started in early June and will be with us through the end of August. If you or someone you may know is interested in exploring future internship opportunities at Driptech please feel free to contact us at jobs@driptech.com

We are also still accepting applications for our:

Product Design Fellowship & Mechatronics/Manufacturing Fellowship

Three New Job Openings

Come join Driptech, a for-profit, socially-minded, high-visibility startup named by BusinessWeek as one of the world's most intriguing new companies, and voted by its readers as one of the top 5 most promising social ventures in America.

Driptech is laser-focused on making affordable irrigation technologies for small-plot farmers in developing countries. Our early-stage, privately-funded, Mountain View, CA based venture is scaling up for high-volume commercial roll-outs in India and China. By joining the Driptech team you will be part of a compelling social venture that aims to produce a global impact.

Driptech is seeking enthusiastic and highly capable individuals to fill several new positions. Each position begins at our headquarters in Mountain View, CA followed by deployment to our overseas offices:

Product Development Lead - based in India

Product Design Fellow - based in India

Mechatronics/Manufacturing Fellow - based in China

Please check the links for more details.

Additional info about us can be found at our website:

http://www.driptech.com

Fellowship applications are due June 30, 2011. We look forward to hearing from you. Email all inquiries to jobs@driptech.com

Launch of Retail Sales in Karnataka and Maharashtra

Driptech recently launched retail sales of Driptech systems in India with one of our distribution partners, Godrej Agrovet! We are very pleased to have the respected Godrej name and its network of dealers supporting our work. Mark Kahn, Executive Vice President for Strategy & Business Development at Godrej Agrovet, joined Driptech Founder and CEO Peter Frykman for this portrait taken at our Hubli launch party.

Our launch events generated a lot of good press in major local Kannada-language papers, such as Samyuktha Karnataka and Sanjevani, as well as in the top two English dailies, the Times of India, and the Hindu.

By partnering with a well-recognized Indian brand that has existing distribution channels, Driptech broadens the social impact of our water-saving, labor-saving, and yield-increasing product.

Peter Frykman (center), founder and CEO of Driptech, pictured with farmers who now have access drip to irrigation.

Godrej sales officers are building relationships with dealer outlets and hanging the co-branded Driptech/Godrej banners in the storefronts (below).

Through dealers and Godrej sales officers, farmers in Maharashtra and Karnataka such as Davalsab Nadaf (pictured below) have access to affordable high-quality drip irrigation. Mr. Nadaf, near Hubli, Karnataka previously relied on flood irrigation for dry season gardening, but was unable to irrigate an elevated portion of his land holdings. After buying a Driptech system from Godrej sales officer Shive Anand, he is now able to irrigate his 1/2 acre plot of chilies, tomatoes and okra. He estimates that using drip irrigation saves him 200 rupees per day (or 4 hours per day) of labor. Mr. Nadaf explained that he is very happy with the system and plans to expand the area of land he irrigates with Driptech systems because he can see that it will protect his soil from the erosion caused by flood irrigation.

Sales Officer Mr. Anand (R) with Mr Nadaf (L).