NEWS
Imagine H2O’s Water Innovation Pilot Fund
A new Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) managed by Imagine H2O will provide recoverable grants and loans to derisk water and climate solutions faster. Pilot financing will be deployed alongside a technical assistance facility to support project success. Oceankind and The Coca-Cola Foundation are among the original financial supporters with additional philanthropic supporters to be announced later this year.
Over 90% of climate-related disasters, such as droughts, floods, storms, and other extreme weather events, are caused by disruptions to the water cycle. As these threats facing our cities, economies and watersheds intensify, progress towards achieving universal access to water and sanitation is alarmingly off course. Accelerating the uptake of innovation is urgently needed to transform how water resources impacted by the climate crisis are monitored, treated, and restored. In response to an increased demand for new solutions, the supply and quality of water tech entrepreneurs is improving. In 2024, 395 water tech startups from 41 countries registered for Imagine H2O innovation programmes. More startups successfully raised venture capital from 2021-2023 than the entire previous decade. Despite this success, many solutions struggle to scale because the risk capital available often does not align with the sector’s long adoption cycles. Investors require a track record to de-risk a new technology or an unfamiliar market. Grants are scarce for market testing and many early adopters are unable or unwilling to pay for demonstration projects. Globally, investment in water is outpaced by other climate tech domains. In addition, Imagine H2O’s network of over 50 municipal and industrial partners share common barriers that dissuade them from piloting new technologies. Oftentimes, budgets are tight and procurement rules may be cumbersome. Risk aversion also remains high when a new technology fails to
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1 SmartTerra
Indonesia Pilot
2 TracWater
Philippines Pilot 3 Imagine H2O Asia Innovation Pavilion at SIWW 4 Pure Active Water, Vietnam
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have a local case study or team. As a result, financial support is crucial. Equally important, solutions need on-the-ground support. The Water Innovation Pilot Fund helps entrepreneurs bridge this challenging commercialisation gap and de-risk their technologies faster. Pilot co-financing is deployed in the form of recoverable grants and loans. Project design and development
support is also provided through a technical assistance facility supported by Imagine H2O’s accelerators. The Fund will support three categories of pilots: early validation of novel technologies, solution development of new features and services, and market expansion into new segments and geographies.
Building on Imagine H2O’s ‘Urban Water Challenge’ supported by Oceankind and the
6 Water & Wastewater Asia | September-October 2024
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