Imagine H2O showcased its 2018 accelerator companies last night at the organization’s 9th annual Water Gala, an event featuring over 400 industry leaders. From a global field of 200 applicants, Imagine H2O selected 12 emerging water technology businesses to advance to its 2018 accelerator. Evaluated on the basis of commercial viability and impact on sustainable […]
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Imagine H2O at WEFTEC 2026
Join the Imagine H2O Team and over 30 of our Portfolio companies at WEFTEC in New Orleans from September 27 – 30.
Every year, more than 20,000 water professionals convene at WEFTEC to explore new ideas, partnerships, and innovations. Imagine H2O is part of that convergence: in partnership with the Water Environment Federation and BlueTech Research, we will showcase emerging technologies at the Innovation Pavilion, connecting breakthrough solutions with the utilities, investors, and industry leaders shaping the future of water.
Sunday, September 27
05:00 PM – 07:30 PM
Imagine H2O WEFTEC Welcome Reception
Join our startups, mentors, tech adopters, and sponsors for a lively pre-WEFTEC networking reception.
This event is invite only.
Monday, September 28
10:15 AM – 11:15 AM, Innovation Pavilion
Innovation Circuit Tour
The Innovation Pavilion gathers a select cohort of companies built to solve water’s most pressing challenges. Each earned its place for its potential to change how utilities, industrial water users, and investors manage water risk. Walk the floor, meet the founders behind these technologies, and see why strategic partners and capital are already paying attention. Imagine H2O and BlueTech Research will take you on a guided tour of the Innovation Pavilion where you can hear from and chat with our featured companies.
Speakers: Jeff Guild (BlueTech Research), Noah McColl (Imagine H2O)
11:30 AM – 12:15 PM, Innovation Pavilion
Imagine H2O’s CrocTank
CrocTank, a New Orleans play on the Shark Tank concept, is a live pitch competition featuring startups from our 2026 cohort. Selected from over 220 applications across 30+ countries, these companies are building solutions across advanced treatment, water quality monitoring, resource recovery, and operational infrastructure, with real commercial traction and real customers already in hand.
Presenting Companies: Active Membranes, AlgaFilm Technologies, AquaPoro, AxNano, Beyond The Dome, Biota Inc., Brightwater Tools, Delta Bravo, EarthFokus, FloNergia, Molendotech
Judges: Takasuke Nezaki (Kurita America Holdings), Mark Philbrick (U.S. Department of Energy), Megan Glover (Usalco), Anne Le Guennec (Veolia), Joshua Allen (Xylem), Chris Morrison (MorrisonWater)
Tuesday, September 29
09:00 AM – 09:30 AM, Innovation Pavilion
From First Project to Purchase Order: Utilities and Startups on Procurement, Budget, and Scale
This session brings together a utility and startups from Imagine H2O’s portfolio to walk through what separates a pilot that stalls from one that scales: how pilots get scoped, what data utilities actually need to justify a purchase order, where procurement and budget cycles kill momentum, and what startups wish they had known before signing on. Attendees will leave with a concrete, repeatable framework for designing successful pilots.
Speakers: Anushree Sreedhar (Partnership Fund for New York City), Gregg Semler (InPipe Energy), Pieter Van Ry (South Platte Renew), Miguel Sibayan (Imagine H2O)
11:15 AM – 11:45 AM, Innovation Pavilion
15 Years of Water Innovation – A Retrospective
For over 15 years, BlueTech Research and Imagine H2O have worked closely alongside the water innovation sector, one through market and technology intelligence, the other through accelerator programs and portfolio companies moving into commercial deployment. In this session, the two organizations look back on what that proximity has actually taught them: what changed in the sector, what did not, and what conventional wisdom got wrong along the way.
Speakers: Paul O’Callaghan (BlueTech Research), Scott Bryan (Imagine H2O), Martin Gross (Gross-Wen Technologies)
