Richard Branson (left) and Ofra Strauss. Photo: Jewish Chronicle.

After receiving a cup of water during a visit to Israel recently, Richard Branson decided to launch a new venture, “Virgin Pure”, hoping to bring cleaner water into everyday life.

Branson’s visit to the Jewish state included meetings with technology companies and scientists, but it was Ofra Strauss, Chairman of the Strauss Group, who handed the British billionaire water that had been purified using technology her company invented, leading to the partnership with Virgin.

“Ofra showed me the machine in Israel and I wanted to buy one for our family. I realised how few homes had one of these,” he said.

The machine filters, boils, and chills water and incorporates the technology engineered by Strauss, and will appear in Britain before expanding into other countries.

Due to the machine’s price, at nearly $420, Britain was chosen as an opening market for the country’s love of tea and the 10 million homes that use bottled and filtered water only.