A diverse list of ‘waterpreneurs’ from over 25 countries globally have registered for the Imagine H2O 2018 Urban Drinking Water Scarcity Challenge ahead of the July 2, 2018 application deadline, according to the organisers. The Challenge offers financial commitment up to a total USD1 million in deployment awards and potential follow-on investment.
Launched by drinking water technology firm Bluewater, and 11th Hour Racing, a US organization that establishes strategic partnerships to promote collaborative, systemic change benefitting the health of our ocean, the Challenge is intended to inspire action towards solving the problem of urban water scarcity.
“We’re very pleased with the interest in the Challenge and encourage water entrepreneurs to join this competition to catalyze urban drinking water solutions,” said Bengt Rittri, founder and CEO of Bluewater. He underlined the need for human ingenuity to solve the 40-percent shortfall in global water supply by 2030 predicted by the United Nations.
Of the 90+registered startups in the Challenge so far, 48 percent are from North America, 20 percent from Africa, 16 percent from Europe and 11 percent from Asia. The top five countries are in the following order: USA, Canada, India, UK and Uganda.
There are currently 37 megacities with populations of 10 million plus. The UN forecasts that the 54 percent of the world population currently living in urban areas will rise to 66 percent by 2050, a mass urbanization that will exacerbate the challenge of managing living environments.
The 2018 Urban Drinking Water Scarcity Challenge is an initiative of Imagine H2O, a non-profit start-up accelerator focused on water innovation. A seemingly “recognized path to market for emerging water solutions”, more than 900 start-ups from 40 countries have participated in the program since 2009. A specific Asia track supported by Enterprise Singapore will offer additionally deployment grants to Challenge winners working in Southeast Asia.
Entrepreneurs developing promising solutions related to Alternative Supply, Distributed Access and Delivery and, Ecosystem Health are invited to apply. Winners will be honored at a special event at Stockholm Water Week, in the Swedish capital, on August 27, 2018.
“The rich pool of applicants clearly highlights the global interest on the growing issue of water scarcity, and the drive to find scalable and innovative solutions. The next stages of the challenge will be extremely interesting, with the evaluation of the candidates starting right after July 2,” said Todd McGuire, 11th Hour Racing Program Director.
“We want the Challenge to facilitate the deployment of real solutions to a real problem already facing water-scarce cities,” added Anders Jacobson, President of Bluewater.
Those interested in entering the Challenge can apply here.
