Isle Utilities and Partners Launch Water Innovation Living Lab 

The Water Innovation Living Lab (WILL), launched in January 2023, aims to drive innovation in the water sector. As a free 16-week accelerator for early technology and innovative start-ups in the water sector internationally, this program supports young companies to provide innovative solutions for water sector challenges.  

WILL was created and is managed through a collaboration of industrial, academic and supply chain operators, including Bonomi Group, Isle Utilities, CSMT Innovation Collaboration Hub, Acque Bresciane Srl SB, and University of Brescia.  

“Breaking into the water industry can be incredibly challenging,” says Program Manager Chris Thomas. “WILL was created to support promising young companies as they navigate this market. WILL is unique because the founding partnership brings together the whole innovation ecosystem: academia, supply chain, and end-customers.” 

Ten exciting and ambitious startups were selected through a competitive international process on the basis of their dedication to the enterprise, the commercially promising initiative in the water sector, and the impact of contribution to sector challenges. 

The WILL January 2023 cohort includes the following companies: 

• SEAL Water Technology Ltd has developed ‘Active Sonar’ – an innovative leak-detection technology 
• PYDRO GMBH is a cleantech startup from Germany driven by a passion to preserve potable water have created a self-powered smart flow meter.  
• Mop Tech Industries has developed the Floc-Opex Recovery (FOR) to assist municipalities and water treatment works with reducing and managing the amount of Water Treatment Residuals (WTRs) that are generated. 
• Mixanox offers unique solutions for upgrading wastewater treatment plants, enabling best-of-class biological treatment methods for integration into existing infrastructure.  
• MetZero has created a retrofittable and energy saving wastewater treatment technology that valorises wastewater products. 
• Tomea is the first Data Science consulting firm solely dedicated to the water industry. 
• Klar2O has developed a special biochemical adsorbing coating, which is able to bind microplastics of all kinds and sizes from water.  
• HydroDrip has created a digital water credits platform that incentivizes efficient water usage and best practices.  
• Hulo has developed revolutionary algorithms to design DMAs and to detect, localize and classify anomalies (e.g., leakages) in water distribution networks. 
• Aldam Technologies is pioneering ground-breaking sustainable water purification technologies for enhanced contaminants removal. 

The program consisting of training seminars and coaching related to running a start-up including legal aspects, business models, go-to-market strategies, investment, and marketing. 

Says Thomas: “The WILL program is a great opportunity to support companies who are early in their development and offer some of the most exciting and ambitious innovation for the sustainability of the water sector. The WILL collaboration was brought together to help these new innovators succeed and make a real impact on the industry.”