The Water Council Announces BREW 2.0 Accelerator Program Participants

Twelve water tech startups invited to participate in virtual sales and scale program to accelerate market adoption success, capped by open Demo Day on Feb. 23

The Water Council today is pleased to introduce the 12 water technology startup companies invited to participate in its BREW 2.0 late-stage water technology accelerator program this February.

BREW 2.0, sponsored by the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact, will provide program participants with access to resources designed to help them scale and grow. “We are incredibly excited to work with The Water Council and BREW 2.0 to bring new solutions to the market to help manage water quality and quantity. We believe these water technology startups can also help with our mission to close equity gaps in America as the worst effects of climate change including water pollutants devastate at-risk communities throughout our country,” said John McIntyre, managing director of the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact Investment Fund.

From a field of 24 startups from the United States, Canada, Chile, South Korea, Belgium and India applying to the open competition last fall, The Water Council team collaborated with global experts and partners in the water industry to select the finalists. “Through the interview process, we couldn’t be more pleased with not only the high interest in the program but also the opportunity to meet so many well-qualified entrepreneurs ready to amplify their success,” said Karen Frost, vice president of economic development at The Water Council.

Invited BREW 2.0 companies represent a wide array of water technologies and solutions, ranging from unmanned IoT systems to unique membrane technologies, from water quality monitoring to nutrient capture, from filter media to water distribution management, and include the following:

• Aqua Membranes offers spiral-wound water membrane solutions
• BloomOptix offers unmanned aerial vehicles for high-resolution harmful algal bloom monitoring
• Capta Hydro offers integrated hardware and software IoT solutions for water distribution management
• Copperstone Technologies offers autonomous environmental monitoring robots for sampling, measurement and surveillance services
• CORNCOB, Inc. offers industrial wastewater filtration technology
• Divirod offers satellite water infrastructure and analytics technology
• ecoSPEARS offers an eco-friendly solution that destroys organic pollutants
• Glanris offers 100 percent green, ultra-low-cost water filtration media
• Sentry provides a bio-electrode sensor technology that provides real-time microbial performance monitoring for water or wastewater treatment
• Swirltex offers buoyancy-based membrane filtration systems
• Varuna provides sensors and cloud-based software for real-time monitoring and insights for water distribution networks
• Water Warriors offers a water treatment solution for phosphorus runoff

Kicking off in early February, the virtual program includes targeted training and introductions within the water industry. Frost notes, “We have a rich water ecosystem to tap into, so it’s valuable to have experts from our member companies and Wisconsin leading some program elements as well as help unlock networks to accelerate their market adoption success.”

Water industry professionals and investors interested in learning more about these innovative water technology entrepreneurs’ solutions are invited to attend a virtual Demo Day event on Tuesday, Feb. 23 beginning at 9:30 a.m. CST.

About The American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact
The AmFam Institute is a venture capital firm and partner of choice for exceptional entrepreneurs who are building scalable and sustainable businesses in a long-term effort to close equity gaps in America. The Institute also believes in capacity building and supporting organizations that are working tirelessly towards creating resilient communities, healthy youth development, economic opportunity for all and learning and academic achievement. For more information, visit amfaminstitute.com.

About The Water Council
Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA next to the world’s largest freshwater system and home to one of the most influential freshwater technology hubs in the world, The Water Council (TWC) is recognized as a global center for advancing water technologies and stewardship. At its heart, TWC is a nonprofit membership organization that connects, convenes and showcases the hub comprised of more than 238 water technology businesses and the diverse water leadership network of 200 members it is linked to from around the world. While TWC’s mission is centered on driving economic development, attracting and connecting world-class talent and supporting water-focused technology innovation, its larger goal is to help secure freshwater resources for the world by driving solutions to the numerous industries that need and use a large amount of water. For more information, visit thewatercouncil.com.