Star Wars' Moisture Farming No Longer Fiction; Water From Air Startup, Genesis Systems, Makes History – Tops U.S. Startup Of The Year Summit: Raises More Than $10M

After exiting stealth months ago, Genesis Systems announced an oversubscribed early raise of more than $10M led by Mr. Paresh Ghelani, Co-founder of the X-PRIZE global water challenge, breaking records for early-stage Water Technology companies that make water from air.

The same week, Genesis Systems presented its novel technology to address water scarcity at the 9th annual Startup of the Year Summit held this year in Tampa, Florida. The WaterCube, a water from air technology that can CO2 capture, has set the international community abuzz. It’s not fictional like Luke Skywalker’s version, its making water at stations around the United States.

As a top 100 semifinalist, Genesis Systems competed for Startup of the Year. For the first time in history, a sustainable tech company broke away from the pack of 100 earning the title of the competition’s first premier Break Out Success Winner. The award is reserved for the company displaying immense technological capabilities, global scalability, and traction superior to other startups. This is the first time the award has been won in nine years of competition.

Genesis Systems was also selected by voters and attendees around the nation as the People’s Choice Award Winner for Sustainable Startup of the Year. Erick Went, Chief Technology Officer at Genesis said, “The message is clear, people a care about water scarcity - an issue that impacts more than 2 billion people on earth.” Water is the key focus of Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG6) that is working to provide societies clean and reliable water. Without water, all goods, services, and life stops.

For five years, Genesis Systems operated in stealth, collaborating with more than 60 leading scientists, engineers, and developers to develop a portfolio of scalable and sustainable step-change nano fluid technologies. The fluid based technologies are superior in energy efficiency to other air water capture processes that rely on air conditioning technology to chill air or metal organic frameworks (MOFs) to absorb. WaterCubes can also CO2 capture while making water, allowing all generated water to be carbon neutral or carbon negative.

Phil Sumrall, a founding director at Genesis and former Director of NASA’s Advanced Concepts Office said, "As a member of the NASA Apollo engineering team that put man on the Moon, I have seen many important technical efforts during my career. However, when I learned about Genesis’ fundamental technology, I knew it could be as important as the Apollo program… Genesis will better our future by making the water in the atmosphere available to all people wherever they live."

Genesis was founded with a single mission: Sustainably Solve Global Water Scarcity. Today, the woman CEO led and veteran owned company is a pathfinder creating a global village to help open markets to new water supply solutions.

Genesis Systems is moving water into a wireless concept with WaterCube and tapping into the $862 billion global water market with an ability to supply utilities, industrial, agricultural, and retail water to consumers without utilizing degraded or contaminated infrastructure. It will be one of the first water supply technologies to federate water supplies and create resilience and stability without using unsustainable sources such as lakes, wells, rivers, and aquifers.

Genesis Systems’ Co-founder and CEO, Shannon Stuckenberg said, “It’s an honor to have our team’s sustained work recognized at the Startup of the Year Summit. Genesis is exceeding expectations and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in sustainable tech. With the production of WaterCube, Genesis is on the precipice of altering human water access. New access can help governments, NGOs, and enterprises provide water without negatively impacting the environment.”

Globally one in ten people do not have access to clean water. The burden of hauling water literally falls on the shoulders of women and girls who spend an estimated 200 million hours a day harvesting and transporting water.

This reality is at the heart of Genesis’ focus on sustainably delivering clean water to the world. The Startup of the Year’s Breakout Success Award and People’s Choice Award recognition is an indication of deep support for Genesis’ work to develop life sustaining technologies as a tool to improve the human journey.

Mr. Ghelani said, “My partnership with Genesis is personal because as a child growing up without safe water, I know the importance of clean water. It’s commendable to see the rapid technological progress Genesis has made. It’s second to no other air to water tech in terms of efficiency and volume.”

About Genesis Systems’ WaterCube
Genesis Systems’ WaterCube is designed to operate in arid regions, including the Middle East and North Africa, as well as water-scarce areas in the United States, Asia, Australia, and Europe. WaterCube is available for order via Genesis’ Fortune 500 distribution, sales and leasing channels Richie Bros. and IronPlanet.com, the largest equipment clearing houses in the world and www.genesissystems.global. In time, Genesis plans to provide WaterCube systems at low to no cost for resource constrained areas that cannot afford clean water.