Vital Lyfe

About Vital Lyfe

Vital Lyfe is a technology company developing portable and autonomous water-making systems designed to operate without reliance on traditional infrastructure. Founded in 2024 by former SpaceX engineering leaders Jon Criss (CEO) and Andrew Harner (COO), the company applies aerospace engineering principles to water purification. The founders' experience includes significant roles in SpaceX's Dragon and Starlink programs, where they gained expertise in spacecraft reuse, high-rate manufacturing, and systems engineering for harsh environments.

The company's core technology is a compact, high-efficiency purification engine that combines mechanical components, advanced membrane science, and intelligent power management. This modular platform is designed to be adaptable, automatically optimizing its purification process for a wide variety of water sources, including seawater, brackish water, and sources with biological contaminants. The systems aim to provide on-demand potable water with a minimal environmental footprint compared to large-scale desalination plants.

Vital Lyfe is targeting a market of users and organizations operating in areas with limited or unreliable water access, such as maritime groups, off-grid communities, and NGOs involved in disaster relief. The business model appears to be focused on the sale of these hardware units, with a commercial launch of its first consumer-ready products anticipated in 2026. In December 2025, the Hawthorne, California-based company announced it had raised $24 million, consisting of over $18 million in seed funding and additional debt financing, to accelerate manufacturing and expand field deployments. The funding round was co-led by Interlagos and General Catalyst.