Meet the Entrepreneurs Reimagining a Water-Resilient Future
Imagine H2O and Founding Partners 11th Hour Racing and Bluewater announced the 2019 finalists of the Urban Water Challenge, a global deployment program for entrepreneurs reimagining a water-resilient future. More than 220 startups from 38 countries applied to the Challenge, representing a diverse range of innovative solutions to the global water crisis — from on-site pollution control to off-grid safe drinking water supply. Imagine H2O’s Evaluation Committee selected six businesses from five different countries to be honoured at World Water Week in Stockholm.
The Challenge finalists were evaluated by a panel of industry experts on the basis of commercial viability, market readiness and impact. “It was a privilege to be part of the Evaluation Committee, and I commend all the applicants for their tireless efforts to address water challenges around the world,” said Michelle Carnevale, Grants Program Director, 11th Hour Racing. “We are thrilled to put a spotlight on the Challenge finalists and their innovative solutions to advancing the UN Sustainable Goals as part of 11th Hour Racing’s commitment to protecting the environment through innovation.”
The Challenge’s Founding Partners committed $500,000 in cash awards and pilot funding to allow finalists to validate and scale their winning solutions with fast-growing urban communities globally. Each finalist will showcase their solutions at World Water Week in Stockholm on August 25-30, 2019. Two winners from the cohort will be announced during the Challenge’s Award Ceremony hosted by Bluewater and 11th Hour Racing on August 26 and will be eligible for additional pilot funding awards.
“With a quarter of the world’s population of 7.7 billion wondering where their next drink of water is coming from, the planet already is coping with a water crisis,” said Anders Jacobson, President, Bluewater. “It will only get worse as the UN projects that global demand will exceed supply by 40 percent in 2030. We are excited about the innovative solutions that have been developed by the finalists of our second annual Urban Water Challenge. This group of global entrepreneurs shows what is possible for a water-secure future.”
Meet the 2019 Urban Water Challenge Finalists:
- Indra: deploying modular, decentralized industrial effluent and wastewater treatment systems in Mumbai, India.
- SmarterHomes: expanding a smart water metering solution to apartment buildings in water stressed communities in Namibia.
- StormSensor: providing real-time data and insights to US utilities, allowing them to better manage changing stormwater conditions.
- Upepo: integrating low cost measuring devices with Narrow-Band IoT to provide real time revenue and water loss management data to Kenyan utilities.
- WatchTower Robotics: scaling an untethered robotic tool for high-accuracy mapping and early leak detection in water distribution networks in Vietnam.
- Zilper Trenchless: deploying a trenchless technology in Colombia to install and replace water pipes without the need for excavation.
About Imagine H2O
Imagine H2O (IH2O) is a nonprofit organization that empowers people to develop and deploy innovation to solve water challenges globally. Since 2009, the organization’s water innovation accelerator has helped over 100 startups with the resources, insight and visibility to launch and scale their businesses. In 2017 and 2018, IH2O portfolio companies received 30% of early-stage investment in the water sector. In 2019, IH2O launched its first hub outside the United States. IH2O Asia will be a Singapore-based, regional accelerator program that bridges global innovation to cities and communities across Southeast Asia. Additional information is available here.
About the Founding Challenge Partners
11th Hour Racing establishes strategic partnerships within the sailing and maritime communities to promote collaborative, systemic change benefitting the health of our ocean. Since 2010, 11th Hour Racing has been harnessing the power of sport with an innovative and comprehensive approach through three primary areas of engagement: sponsorships, grantees, and ambassadors. Please visit us at www.11thhourracing.org.
Bluewater is a world leader in innovating, manufacturing, and commercializing water purification technologies and solutions for residential, business and public use that harness the company’s patented second-generation reverse osmosis technology to remove virtually all pollutants from water, including micro plastic fibers, lead, bacteria, pesticides, medical residues, chlorine, and lime-scale. Bluewater is wholly owned by Blue, a Stockholm-based global investment company that serves as a catalyst for innovations that can solve some of the major challenges facing our planet and all living on it. Please visit us at www.bluewatergroup.com or www.blueab.se.
This piece was prepared online by Panuruji Kenta, Publisher, SEVENSEAS Media