“Megan — Have you ever thought about testing your water?”

Megan Glover is the CEO and Co-Founder of 120WaterAudit, based in Zionsville, Indiana. The company’s software and testing kits are reimagining a world with lead free drinking water. In just 16 months, their software has been implemented to manage nearly 100,000 locations across 9 states to protect more than 500,000 lives. This week, they raised a $7m Series A to fund their next stage of growth. We sat down with Megan to discuss her personal journey to found the company and her long-term vision for impact.

Tell us a little about yourself and what led you to found your company?

My background is as a VP of Marketing and Sales for B2B high-growth SaaS companies in the midwest. Prior to founding 120WaterAudit, my career was building and launching new cloud-based software companies in industries such as Marketing & Sales, Healthcare, Retail and EdTech.

What led me to found the company was a conversation I had over coffee with my co-founder about Flint, MI and a simple question: “Megan — have you thought about testing your water?” I hadn’t up until Flint and when I went home to research how I would go about testing my tap found there weren’t any affordable, consumer friendly options.

Where did you get the idea for 120WaterAudit?

Watching the events of Flint, MI unfold I wanted to test the water at my home and children’s daycare/school. I called my water company and they wouldn’t test it. I called an environmental lab and they wanted to charge me $3500. So I raised $100,000 from friends and family to launch 120WaterAudit to provide a consumer friendly & affordable EPA certified lab kit to test your tap water.

At what point did you decide to turn your idea/solution into a business?

When we launched our first testing kits, we thought consumers would be the buyers. We were wrong. We began receiving interest from school facilities and public water systems that were tasked with doing more tap testing due to new mandates and violations. Once we started working with these customers, I realized how antiquated (or non existent) their business processes and software applications are to manage and execute their water programs. Given my technology background, I wanted to build better solutions to help our customers and this industry manage water programs to protect public health.

So, seven months after founding the company I quit my day job to build the software and the testing kits that we pre-sold to the State of Indiana and two water systems in Texas and Colorado.

What problem do you solve for your customer?

120WaterAudit’s platform helps simplify compliance with the programs our customers are tasked with managing. We help our customers increase operational efficiency, decrease cost and mitigate risk.

Where were your initial challenges starting this business?

Funding and access. Getting investor traction for a water tech start-up in the midwest was difficult. And getting the water community to embrace an outsider has been equally difficult. We’ve continuously proven, through our actions with our customers, that we belong in this space and deserve to be funded. Perseverance is everything!

What is the impact in water you want to have with your company?

10 years from now I would like 120WaterAudit to be synonymous with safe drinking water.

What are your priorities for 2019?

Growth mode! With Series A capital we will be rapidly developing our software, expanding sales and rounding out key leadership hires.

What is your larger vision for 120WaterAudit?

We are going beyond lead and applying our software and kit platform to other industries and water programs that need more modern business applications to execute at scale. Our vision is to become the leading digital water platform for all entities tasked with managing water programs that protect our public health.

What is the single thing that would make your job easier?

Federal legislation to standardize certain water programs such as PFAS, lead in schools and other programs that are lacking Federal standards.

What happened the day(s/weeks/months) after you got into the 2019 Imagine H2O Accelerator?

So many things! We were able to secure great local press with the announcement and received overwhelming support from investors and customers. Winning the 2019 Imagine H2O Accelerator directly contributed to:

• Securing Series A funding
• Signing our first strategic client
• Meeting the who’s who of water innovation and thought leadership that we would not have been able to meet on our own.

Sum up your IH2O experience so far in 3 words.

Experience Worth $1,000,000!

Follow Megan Glover and the 120WaterAudit team’s journey here.