Imagine H2O Asia Announces Inaugural Startup Cohort

8 water technology startups join Imagine H2O and partners in reimagining a water-secure future for Southeast Asia

Imagine H2O Asia announced the eight startup finalists for its inaugural Singapore-based, regional accelerator program. In collaboration with Founding Partners Enterprise Singapore, SUEZ and Moya Asia, Imagine H2O Asia’s Evaluation Committee selected the cohort from a global field of over 110 applicants across 28 countries. Applicants were assessed for commercial viability, technological innovation, potential impact and market readiness in Southeast Asia.

“The high volume of quality applications revealed not just a diverse range of promising water solutions primed for commercialization, but also a shared interest among international entrepreneurs for new pathways to Singapore and Southeast Asia markets,” said Irwan Dinata, Managing Director of Moya Holdings Asia Limited (“Moya”), a Founding Partner of Imagine H2O Asia. “As Moya strives to tackle Indonesia’s urban water and wastewater challenges, we anticipate partnering with innovators like the ones participating in this program.”

The cohort will participate in Imagine H2O Asia’s Water Innovation Week in Singapore, a four-day bootcamp and showcase hosted in collaboration with Enterprise Singapore and PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency. Participating startups will benefit from mentorship, customer and investor introductions, industry visibility and over S$200k in direct funding and awards. Before convening the cohort at Singapore Week of Innovation & Technology (SWITCH) in November 2019, finalists will participate in virtual training and pitch sessions with Imagine H2O’s global network.

“SUEZ’s partnership with Imagine H2O Asia reflects our long-standing support for Singapore’s vision as a global hydrohub as well as our strategic commitment to harnessing innovation for sustainable resource management across the wider region,” said SUEZ, a Founding Partner of Imagine H2O Asia. “SUEZ hopes to create win-win partnerships with these startups to improve access to innovation in Southeast Asia and beyond.”

Imagine H2O is a nonprofit that empowers people to develop and deploy innovation to solve water challenges. Since 2009, Imagine H2O has supported over 100 startups. Notable alumni include Fracta, Valor Water Analytics, Aquacycl, Ceres Imaging, BioGill, Drinkwell. 120WaterAudit and Utilis. In 2019, more than 250 startups from 35 countries applied to the flagship accelerator program. In 2017 and 2018, the alumni network collectively raised 30% of early-stage investment in the water sector globally. Twelve industrial and municipal leaders from Southeast Asia have joined Imagine H2O Asia’s growing Ecosystem Partners Program, a dedicated customer and advisory network for participating startups (see list below).

Introducing the 2019 Imagine H2O Asia Cohort

The eight finalists selected for the 2019 Imagine H2O Asia Accelerator are:

EKO GEA (Slovenia): Novel, wholly anaerobic waste-to-water treatment solution for the food and beverage industry that eliminates organic waste and reduces the cost and footprint of currently-available treatment systems

EnvironSens (Singapore): IOT-enabled, real-time water toxicity sensor that serves as an early warning system for illegal discharge in order to protect sewer networks from inflow of heavy metals

MicroHAOPs (Seattle, WA): Cost-effective filtration technology that removes phosphorous from sewage in order to help cities meet stricter regulations and protect water bodies from toxic algae

Pani Energy (Canada/India): AI-powered software platform for industrial plant operators to improve performance of treatment processes and reduce energy and chemical use without changing existing plant hardware

Puraffinity (UK — Formerly Customem)*: Engineered bio-based adsorbent materials to capture chemicals in wastewater streams, particularly hazardous micropollutants such as PFAS *(Alumni Participant)

SpaceAge Labs (Singapore): Low-power, fast-to-deploy wireless technologies that enable cost-effective monitoring and maintenance of remote water assets, particularly in developing countries

StormHarvester (UK): Monitoring and control of drainage networks using rainfall prediction and other forecasting tools to reduce urban flooding and facilitate water reuse and recycling

Veracet (Berkeley, CA): Rapid DNA fingerprinting technology and analytics platform that empowers utilities and businesses to identify the source of microbial contamination in a water source

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