The best of 2022

Welcome to our very first Watertech Insights! We would like to give you monthly reading material.

We're kicking off with the best read articles of 2022.

7 investors every water technology start-up should know

In 2021 $470 million was raised to fund water start-ups. But where should new water technology companies start? Tom Freyberg checks out seven notable investors.

The rise of the ‘half unicorn’

As Liza Minnelli once sang, ‘Money makes the world go round’. If the song was to be rewritten, the word ‘water’ should perhaps be included as recent investment into the sector is certainly helping to make the water world go round.

In 2021, it was estimated that a staggering $470 million was raised by water start-ups across 90 countries, according to GWI WaterData.

While the investment community could be called occupied with ESG (environmental, social and governance) related investments right now, the water sector is slowly but surely attracting more capital as an emergence of digital-led innovations are promising to deliver asset improvements.

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‘The wonderful everyday’ water recycling: IKEA invests in Danish shower

Inter IKEA Group has made a minority equity investment in Flow Loop, a Danish start-up developing a water recycling shower solution to enable customers to be more water and energy efficient.

The affordable 'shower of the future'

Inter IKEA Group has made a minority equity investment in Flow Loop, a Danish start-up developing a water recycling shower solution to enable customers to be more water and energy efficient.The iconic blue and yellow home furnishing superstore has been collaborating with Flow Loop since March 2020 to develop a water recycling shower solution that can be retrofitted in existing shower spaces.

"Our water innovation team has made great progress together with Flow Loop during the last two years’ collaboration on our journey to make this ‘shower of the future' affordable and accessible to as many customers as possible," said Robert Carleke, innovation ventures manager at IKEA of Sweden.

Read the full article >>

5 companies shaping real-time surface water monitoring

Surface water monitoring technology is becoming an increasingly competitive landscape, as both the public and private sector seek to get a better understanding of the environmental impact on water sources.

Decreasing sensor pricing, coupled with technology becoming more robust has sparked new generations of companies wishing to put real-time data into hands of operators.

Aquatech Online previously reported on a UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR) report on drinking water quality that recommended the need to “understand how processes at different locations across the water cycle impact others”.

With this in mind, we look at five companies shaping the future of real-time surface water monitoring.

Read the full article

In case you've missed

• What role can improved, smarter and optimised pumps play in helping the sector become more energy efficient? We take a look at the ‘smart pump’ category to look at the different offerings.
• Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS, have become a serious challenge for the water sector as they are difficult to remove and even harder to destroy.?As innovations continue to emerge, Aquatech Online looks at five solutions to tackling these harmful chemicals.
• Our essential guide to algae and surface water - looking at what it is, what causes it and how to prevent it building up in our drinking water ecosystems.

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for the next edition of Watertech Insights.