On World Water Day, Imagine H2O Celebrates the Visionary Entrepreneurs in its 10th Annual Accelerator
120WaterAudit (Winner), Altered (Runner-Up) and Aquafortus (Runner-Up) received special recognition while all 13 accelerator companies were honored at WaterGala’19
Imagine H2O’s thirteen 2019 accelerator companies, selected from a global field of 250 startups, are reimagining how businesses, cities and communities manage and monitor their water globally. From helping cities lay trenchless water pipes underground to recovering scarce water supplies at power plants for continuous reuse, Imagine H2O’s 10th annual cohort represents a diverse range of solutions for smarter water resource management.
On World Water Day, Imagine H2O is celebrating these changemakers as they strive for a water-secure future through technology and business model innovation. Last night, Imagine H2O showcased the cohort at WaterGala’19: CASCADE, an annual event featuring over 400 industry executives, entrepreneurs and investors. WaterGala’19 marked the end of Imagine H2O’s Water Innovation Week in San Francisco, the organization’s flagship bootcamp designed to equip participants with the insights, visibility and resources to scale water businesses for global impact.
WaterGala’19 also marked the announcement of two strategic initiatives to expand the reach of Imagine H2O’s activities and accelerate the deployment of innovation. Imagine H2O Asia, the organization’s first hub outside the United States, will launch next month in partnership with Enterprise Singapore. The regional accelerator program will bridge entrepreneurs to Southeast Asia’s cities and businesses while equipping Singapore-based early-stage water startups with the resources to build a path to market. In partnership with Bluewater Group and 11th Hour Racing, Imagine H2O also announced the second annual Urban Water Challenge. This global competition will unlock $100,000 pilot funding awards for three winning solutions in fast-growing cities. Winners will be showcased at World Water Week 2019 in Stockholm.
120WaterAudit Wins Top Honors
120WaterAudit was honored as the 2019 winner for the company’s novel approach to equipping government agencies, public water systems and schools with the tools to manage lead in drinking water programs. Using a cloud software platform and point-of-use testing kits, 120WaterAudit has helped customers test over 100,000 locations across nine US states. With an estimated 10 million lead service lines across the country, 120WaterAudit is creating new opportunities for cities to mitigate risk, decrease fines and protect public health.
Altered and Aquafortus Selected as Runners-Up
Two companies were recognized as Runners-Up by Imagine H2O’s judging panel. Altered has sold over 80,000 units of its easily-retrofitted atomizer nozzle that reduces water use by up to 98% while retaining full functionality. A 100-room hotel installed with Altered saves 900,000 liters of a water a year. Aquafortus is a zero liquid discharge technology for high salinity wastewater to continuously recover clean water and reduce operating costs of treatment by 60%. By enabling safe surface discharge, Aquafortus is able to help industry increase freshwater available to the local environment.
As members of Imagine H2O’s 2019 accelerator, all 13 companies will benefit throughout the year from mentorship, industry-wide visibility, pilot funding support, as well as industry and customer connections.
The 13 companies in Imagine H2O’s 2019 Accelerator include:
ZwitterCo (Somerville, MA): Nanofiltration membranes that separate complex organics from wastewater with unprecedented fouling resistance, enabling safer and more affordable wastewater management
Zilper Trenchless (Cambridge, MA): Trenchless technology that can install and replace water pipes without trench excavation, minimizing disruption to surface traffic while generating project cost savings of over 40% (Zilper Trenchless received the Audience Choice Award at Imagine H2O Demo Day)
Water Warriors (Cincinnati, OH): Integrated biomedia and microbubble aeration solution easily retrofitted in wastewater treatment plants, lagoons or basins to remove nitrogen and phosphorus, meet stricter discharge limits and reduce algae blooms
WateROAM (Singapore): Low-cost, easy-to-use, portable water filter for disaster-affected areas and off-grid communities that requires no maintenance and contains 0.02 NSF-certified membranes for 99.99% bacteria removal
SwiftComply (Pleasanton, CA / Dublin, Ireland): Automated compliance platform that connects water and wastewater regulators with their customers to streamline compliance processes and reduce administrative burden, starting with Fat, Oil & Grease (FOG) programs
SenZ2 BV (Eindhoven, Netherlands): Wireless, real-time radar-based level sensor and dashboard that monitors water and wastewater levels for water agencies to manage and respond to urban flooding and sewer overflow events
PowerTech Water (Lexington, KY): Capacitive coagulation modules using carbon-based electrochemical filters to remove 99% of toxic metals from industrial wastewaters with near 100% water recovery while producing zero sludge
Orb (San Francisco, CA): Handheld molecular scanner to detect “Total Microbiology” levels in potable water in three seconds using a non-invasive photon-based technology
Noria Water Technologies (Los Angeles, CA): Real-time membrane monitoring and decision-support tool to reduce fouling and mineral scaling and optimize operations in reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) water treatment systems
Infinite Cooling (Cambridge, MA): Easily retrofitted device for cooling towers that reduces water losses in industrial power plants due to evaporation and enables water reuse
Aquafortus (Auckland, New Zealand): Non-thermal, fully regenerable zero liquid discharge technology for high salinity wastewaters to continuously recover clean water and reduce operating costs of treatment
Altered (Stockholm, Sweden): Water and energy-saving product range includes a dual flow atomizer nozzle that retrofits in bathroom and kitchen faucets to reduce up to 98% water use with full functionality, as well as a brand new line of high efficiency showers
120WaterAudit (Zionsville, IN): Cloud software platform and testing kits to government agencies, public water systems and childcare/school facilities to manage lead in drinking water programs
Imagine H2O would like to thank its event and corporate sponsors for supporting Water Innovation Week 2019.
