New WEF And Imagine H2O Partnership Advances Water Entrepreneurship
Initiative supports organizations' efforts to engage entrepreneurs with promising innovations
The Water Environment Federation (WEF) is proud to announce a new partnership with Imagine H2O, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that hosts a global business plan competition and an accelerator program for water startups. Through this initiative, both organizations will encourage entrepreneurs to turn water challenges into innovative business opportunities. Specifically, WEF will provide strategic support and resources to the Imagine H2O competition and its winners.
"WEF recognizes that collaboration within the entrepreneurial community is an integral part of pursuing innovative approaches to water management, " said WEF Executive Director Jeff Eger. "We applaud Imagine H2O's efforts to cultivate entrepreneurship and support business creation in the sector. We believe that this new partnership will create a bridge that will help us further our collective efforts to solve current and future global water challenges."
Previous Imagine H2O winners such as Black Gold Biofuels, Fogbusters, Hydrovolts and Water Smart Software have leveraged Imagine H2O's Accelerator Program to secure financing and attract customers. As part of the agreement, WEF will look for opportunities to encourage technical and business professionals to act as mentors for Imagine H2O's winning companies and help publicize the competition and winners in its publications and relevant marketing efforts.
"This partnership allows Imagine H2O to introduce promising entrepreneurs and startups to the largest network of water quality professionals in the world," added Scott Bryan, Imagine H2O's Director of Operations. "Partnering with WEF creates a powerful combination that provides new opportunities to our network of entrepreneurs."
Winners of Imagine H2O's Wastewater Prize will also be featured at WEFTEC 2012, WEF's 85th annual technical exhibition and conference, that will be held later this year in New Orleans, La. Recognized as the largest annual water quality event, WEFTEC hosts thousands of water professionals and more than 900 top water companies from around the world each year.
About Imagine H2O
Imagine H2O inspires and empowers people to solve water challenges and turn them into opportunities. We offer annual prize competitions for water innovation, including the 2009 Water Efficiency Prize and 2010 Water-Energy Nexus Prize and current Wastewater Prize. In addition to cash prizes for the best ideas, Imagine H2O fosters an accelerator program to help competing entrepreneurs turn their plans into game-changing, real-world solutions. For more information, visit www.imagineh2o.org.
About WEF
Formed in 1928, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization with 36,000 individual members and 75 affiliated Member Associations representing water quality professionals around the world. WEF and its Member Associations proudly work to achieve our mission of preserving and enhancing the global water environment. For more information, visit www.wef.org.
SOURCE: Water Environment Federation (WEF) - WEFTEC