Imagine H2O, the water innovation accelerator, selected twelve startups to advance to its eighth annual Accelerator Program. Over 180 startups from 20 countries registered for the Challenge. The startups will join the organization’s growing portfolio of 70 alumni companies, which represent over $1 in every $10 of early-stage investment in the water sector.
A lack of actionable data poses challenges to businesses, landowners and governments managing water resources globally. Yet, entrepreneurs responding to this problem are applying advancements in sensors, artificial intelligence, enterprise software and other IT applications to the water sector.
“Leveraging data innovation empowers communities and businesses to solve water challenges in a cost-effective manner,” says Imagine H2O’s VP of Programming Tom Ferguson. “Our 2017 accelerator cohort is a scalable set of businesses providing data and information to communities, farms and companies.”
The twelve finalists will be honored at Imagine H2O’s WaterGala ’17 on March 15, in San Francisco, where the organization will announce the Challenge’s overall winner.
“This is an impressive group of companies doing important work in their chosen area,” says Paul Gagliardo, innovation director at American Water and member of the judging panel. “Scaling their business through Imagine H2O’s program will be an opportunity to bring their innovations to market.”
Imagine H2O provides a path-to-market for early-stage water companies, with participants benefitting from executive mentorship, market visibility, investor introductions, and connections to Imagine H2O’s Beta Partners, a global network of companies and utilities committed to deploying water technology.
The twelve finalists advancing to Imagine H2O’s 2017 accelerator are Acoustic Sensing Technology (UK), AquaSeca, Arable Labs, EMAGIN, Flo Techologies, FREDSense, Hydromodel Host (Spain), Lotic Labs, PlutoAI, Sutro, Triple Bottom Line Enterprises (Ethiopia) and Utilis (Israel). Visit the Imagine H2O Accelerator website to learn more about the participating companies and their innovations.
Imagine H2O’s judging panel includes industry experts and leaders from, among others, XPV Water Partners, DC Water, True North Venture Partners, and IBM. The judges selected the finalists based on market viability, value proposition, and go-to-market strategy. The program’s major financial supporters include Wells Fargo (Headline Sponsor), Suez North America Foundation and Tetra Tech.