Are the tides turning for water tech startups? After a slow start, investors are finally catching on to their importance. Annual investment in water tech surged in 2021, hitting a record $5.6 billion. Although funding has dipped since, the industry is on track to surpass 2023’s annual investment. With half of Earth’s population at risk of facing water scarcity as early as next year, it’s about time. Read about the water tech startups tackling the water crisis head-on.
Wayout
Swedish-founded Wayout’s micro-factories offsets the need for bottled water by providing clean drinking water. The team combines membrane filtration and ultraviolet disinfection to remove dirt and bacteria from sea, industry and graywater. Wayout leases the factories to local organisations – allowing them to provide clean water to up to 10’000 people per day with a minimum ecological footprint. The team secured €6M in Seed funding in 2023.
Stage: Series A
Total funding: $9.98M
HQ: Stockholm, Sweden
Openversum
More than 2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water. Openversum has set out to solve this by micro-franchising cutting-edge water membrane filters to local entrepreneurs in water-distressed areas. The filters quickly remove micropollutants and heavy metals from water – without using any energy. Founded by chemical engineer Oliver Gröninger, this water tech startup is a spin-out of ETH, a public research university in ZĂĽrich. The team is now building an educational platform to empower locals with the tools and know-how to set up their own businesses.Â
Stage: Seed
Total Funding: Â $860K
HQ: ZĂĽrich, SwitzerlandÂ
Kilimo
Kilimo is a water tech startup that uses big data and machine learning to verify, and offset water usage in agriculture. Its SaaS platform helps farmers improve their irrigation practices, validate their water savings and then market these savings as water offset credits to companies with water stewardship pledges. Kilimo raised a Series A round in June this year.
Stage: Series A
Total Funding: $8.69M
HQ: Argentina, CĂłrdoba
Oneka Technologies
Earth might be covered in water, but only 0.5% is drinkable. Oneka turns seawater into freshwater by harnessing wave motion to power water plants. This is usually a fossil fuel heavy process, since removing salt from water takes a lot of energy. Through wave energy, Oneka can provide clean water to coastal regions with scarcity through a fully decarbonized desalination process. The team closed a €8.7 Series A round in September last year.
Stage: Series A
Total Funding: $28.2M
HQ: Sherbrooke, Canada
Boon
A pioneering water startup announcing a Series A investment this month is Gurugram-based Boon. Boon secured $5M in a mix of equity and debt in a round led by Roca Ventures in July 2024. Boon uses AI and IoT to provide sustainable and affordable access to clean drinking water and has helped over 2 million people make better water choices. Their efforts have been recognized by global organizations such as UNDP, WWF, and UNIDO.
Stage: Series A
Total Funding: $7.8M
HQ: Gurugram, India
These are just a few water tech startups making waves. Our platform offers the most comprehensive database of climate startups and scaleups worldwide. We empower investors, corporates, and decision-makers with climate tech insights by providing access to data on funding rounds, investment activity, technological readiness levels, and more.
