Photo by mrjn Photography on Unsplash
Access to safe, clean water is essential to human health, yet water scarcity is a looming problem. According to the World Wildlife Fund, two-thirds of the world’s population could experience water shortages by as soon as 2025. In addition, water is attracting a diverse, growing population of strategic investors.
We see three primary B2B water focus areas for 2020:
1) Expand Supply. 1.1 billion people have inadequate access to water. The solution here lies in developing new water infrastructure to create a sustainable, reliable and cost-efficient supply system. We’ll look for companies that are innovating in these areas:
Delivery and discovery cost reduction
Runoff water-capturing facilities
Pumping stations and pipeline process improvements
Desalination technology
Wastewater treatment plant innovations that increase reuse or reduce discharge
Construction material innovations that conserve water
2) Increase Supply Efficiency. 32 billion cubic meters of treated water leaks from water-supply systems every day. The solution here is to create effective solutions to reduce demand, lessen the need for capital-intensive solutions, and promote sustainable use of available resources. We’ll look for companies that are innovating in these areas:
Irrigation equipment to prevent evaporation of water in farming
Smart meters that limit waste
Novel replacements for aging infrastructure
Advanced automation controls
New approaches to leakage detection
3) Improve Quality. The world’s water supply is in a tenuous state. 80% of China’s rivers, for example, are already too toxic for human use, or even to support fish. The world needs ways to improve drinking-water quality. This year, we’ll look for companies that are innovating in these areas:
Filtration
Monitoring and testing
Disinfection beyond traditional chemicals
Sanitary appliances
Wastewater technology, especially wastewater recycling with human impact, such as making wastewater drinkable
We also see water as a consumer product, and that will be a major focus for us this year. Water is food. In many ways, water is the most fundamental food. Public water is subsidized, but not universally available - consumer water today is dominated by giant bottled water companies. The rising generation appears unwilling to keep supporting the status quo in consumer water. As a result, we see a huge opportunity here for products that:
Innovate in wastewater technology, especially wastewater recycling with human impact
Are pure
Are environmentally aware, or even better, neutral
Flow value back to the source of the water
Tie water and health together
The need for innovation in this area is huge and urgent. We seek worldwide potential, not local, solutions. The world is thirsty to discover new ways to hydrate current and future generations. We are eager to invest in the best new companies that can quench that thirst.
By Managing Partner Mike Edelhart
@MikeEdelhart