Aligning action 
to scale water innovations

Kickstarting the Innovation Forum with a bang, this opening discussion will inspire everyone around the theme for the day: Aligning action to scale water solutions. A provocative debate will address the elephants in the room:

• Are new “innovations” genuinely innovative, and also needed?
• Is water technology the right space for venture capitalist finance looking for returns quicker than the sector can offer?
• What can utility innovation programs and labs do better to help start-ups move from the innovation to the operations teams? 

For start-ups getting past the ‘innovation lab’ stage of entry within water companies, one of the big challenges can be meeting added bureaucratic requirements, whether legal or finance, to work within the operational teams and core part of the business. With small teams, how can they make sure enough limited resources are allocated? What help is at hand here? What lessons have been learned from those successful, or those that failed?

How are new entrants defying age-old water stereotypes that inventing, testing, commercialising and turning a profit with new water innovations can take over a decade? How can innovative business models be scaled? Is there now a growing need for water, data, energy and recycling as a service models? Hear from leaders reversing the trend that water technology innovation is slow. 

Times are changing. Due to perceived slow returns, investors have historically steered clear of the water sector. Incredibly fragmented, technical and often political, the market can also be off-putting to new entrants. Yet, recently, scalable innovations are helping to attract new funds from the climate finance community, with start-ups and scale-ups recording record raises. Is this water’s moment?

Start-ups and multinationals are very different. The former are small, agile and disruptive. The latter are often huge, bureaucratic and slow to pivot global organisations. Yet, a recent trend is emerging whereby collaboration between the two is helping to fund and scale solutions, even connecting to public utilities.

Driven by upcoming regulations, there has been a boom in new companies, solutions and investments to treat per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances in water and the environment. In a new twist on the Innovation Forum classic ‘Digital Derby’ format, whereby start-ups pitch to an experienced panel with real-time audience voting, we are turning the focus to forever chemicals. How are the new solutions reaching destruction status on PFAS? Where are the innovations being proven? Find out more in this not-to-be-missed session on one of water’s hottest topics.