‏إظهار الرسائل ذات التسميات Aquaculture. إظهار كافة الرسائل
‏إظهار الرسائل ذات التسميات Aquaculture. إظهار كافة الرسائل

HCL Group and UpLink Announce 10 Winning Aquapreneurs of Zero Water Waste Challenge

HCL Group and UpLink Announce 10 Winning Aquapreneurs of Zero Water Waste Challenge

  • The Aquapreneur Innovation Initiative is a five-year $15 million investment to drive freshwater sector innovation from HCL, a leading global conglomerate.
  • The 10 winning Aquapreneurs were selected from a pool of 192 global applicants
  • The winners will receive a financial award from a total pool of 1.9 million CHF in funding to scale their start-ups and deliver freshwater solutions worldwide.
  • Witnessed participation from diverse regions, with notable contributions from Africa (16%), Asia (18%), Europe (13%), and other global regions
  • Of the winners this year, two are from India, four are from Europe, two from South America and two are from the United States of America.
HCL Group and UpLink, the open innovation platform of the World Economic Forum, have together announced the top 10 water-focussed entrepreneurs who will receive a financial award from a total pool of 1.9 million CHF as part of the Zero Water Waste Challenge. HCL Group committed $15 million investment in total to drive freshwater sector innovation for five years until 2027. In less than a year, HCL Group’s commitment saw a 10x return on its investment as the first cohort of ‘Aquapreneurs’ collectively raised $54.5 million after joining the UpLink Innovation Ecosystem.

The Zero Water Waste Challenge is the second out of five innovation challenges, under HCL Group and UpLink’s Aquapreneur Innovation Initiative. The focus of this year’s challenge aimed at capturing and protecting freshwater supply, water reuse and recycling of materials and saving water in agriculture.

Top 10 water-focused entrepreneurs or “Aquapreneurs” were selected from a pool of 192 global applicants. Out of these, most of the applications were from Africa (16%), Asia (18%) and Europe (13%). These Innovators come from eight different countries and are bringing cutting edge innovative solutions in areas such as greywater reuse, rainwater capture, advanced filtration, precision agriculture, and data analytics and AI.

Announcing the winners, Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson of HCLTech said, "In light of the current global climate change crisis and increasing scarcity of freshwater resources, the urgent need for innovative solutions to manage our freshwater supplies cannot be overlooked. These innovations reshape our approach to water, optimizing its use and conservation. HCL stands committed to supporting these innovations for a positive global impact. Congratulations to the winners of the Aquapreneur Innovation Initiative 2024.

Climate change, pollution and overuse pose a grave threat to the planet’s freshwater supplies”, said Olivier Schwab, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum. “UpLink and HCL are building an innovation ecosystem around early-stage, water-focused entrepreneurs that will provide them with the resources, expertise and vital funding they need to thrive. The solutions created by these 'Aquapreneurs' will play a crucial role in bringing about the transformative change required to shape a sustainable, water-resilient future for all.

Two of the top 10 innovators were selected to present their solutions at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos in 2023:


  1. “We are thrilled and humbled to be recognized as a Zero Water Waste challenge winner,” said Karina Peña, CEO and Co-founder of FieldFactors, “joining this cohort will allow us to bring our technology to the global stage, increasing community resilience to the impacts of climate change.” FieldFactors is a water technology start-up providing circular solutions for urban water management and climate adaptation. Specializing in climate change adaptation, the company designs and implements integrated solutions to combat urban flooding, drought, and heat stress, fostering biodiversity with green space.
  2. “Being named an Aquapreneur is validation for our vision to eliminate urban water pollution” said Asim R. Bhalerao, CEO of Fluid Analytics, “we look forward to working with HCL and UpLink, World Economic Forum to bring our vision to life globally.” Fluid Analytics Inc. is a water analytics company committed to addressing urban water pollution. With unique mathematical and machine-learning models trained on diverse datasets, Fluid Analytics Inc. has successfully deployed solutions, monitoring over 1.5 billion litres of urban water pollution and enabling the treatment and reuse of 800 million litres daily.
The other entrepreneurs that were awarded prize money from HCL Group and support from UpLink are:
  1. Juan Carlos Escobar, CEO and Co-Founder and Rina Martínez, Co-Founder of AQUAKIT SRL, (Bolivia) – A grey water treatment technology that enables the recycling of household greywater for non-potable uses and reduces wastewater emissions.
  2. Amira Cheniour, Co-Founder and CEO and Taher Mestiri, Co-founder, Chief Technology Officer of SEABEX SAS (France) – An AI-powered precision irrigation solution that uses a digital twin to help farmers produce more food with less water.
  3. Gokul Krishna Govindu, CEO of SmartTerra (India) – An AI-powered analytics software designed to analyse data and reduce water losses in city-scale and built environment networks.
  4. Trupti Jain, co-founder of Naireeta Services Private Ltd (India) - A community-based rainwater harvesting technology that filters, injects and stores rainwater for use in dry seasons.
  5. Mulundu Sichone, CEO at PYDRO (Germany) – A cost-effective self-powered smart flow meter for water pipes, helping to reduce water leaks, prevent pipe bursts and perform quality checks in real-time and 24/7.
  6. Laurence Battaille, CEO and Gregoire de Hemptinne, Co-founder of SHAYP (Belgium) - An IoT-enabled SaaS solution that monitors water consumption in real estate buildings in real-time helping building managers to eliminate leaks and related damages.
  7. Greg Newbloom, CEO and founder of Membrion (United States) – A ceramic desalination technology that removes metals, minerals and salts from harsh industrial wastewater - enabling the water to be recycled in a cost-effective and energy efficient manner.
  8. Jaime de la Cruz Gonzales, CEO of Kran Nanobubble, (Chile) – A nanobubble technology solution optimizing water efficiency in agriculture, water treatment, and aquaculture.
In addition to the financial reward, winners will receive exclusive access to events, projects, and communities led by the World Economic Forum and partners.

About UpLink

UpLink is the open innovation platform of the World Economic Forum, designed to unlock an ‘entrepreneur revolution’ for people and planet by supporting start-ups with innovative solutions for the world’s most pressing issues, as outlined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Launched at the World Economic Forum’s 2020 Annual Meeting in Davos in partnership with Deloitte and Salesforce, UpLink builds bridges between entrepreneurs and the investors, experts and partners who can help scale their ventures. UpLink sources innovations through a competition framework known as innovation challenges. UpLink has now run more than 50 challenges and identified over 450 entrepreneurs with innovative solutions across critical SDG areas including freshwater, health, food, ocean, plastics, education, climate and more.

Technology Development Board of DST Forays Into Aquaculture, Funds Its 1st Aquaculture-Project That Uses Israeli Tech

TDB of DST Forays Into Aquaculture Funds Its 1st Aquaculture-Project Using Israeli Tech
Fountainhead's Aquaculture Site [Image - fafpl.co.in]

Inspired by Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, and to bring ‘Blue Revolution’ TDB-DST supports its first aquaculture project

Realizing the potential of Fisheries sector, Government of India has taken several steps to promote and encourage fisheries & aquaculture in the country. Last year in July, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, launched the Online Course Mobile App “Matsya Setu” to disseminate the latest freshwater aquaculture technologies to the aqua farmers of the country.

In a latest now, Technology Development Board (TDB), a statutory body under Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India has funded its first ever ‘Aquaculture’ project using ‘state of the art’ Israeli technology for production of Tilapia Fish. The board has supported Navi Mumbai-based Fountainhead Agro Farms Pvt Ltd. (Fountainhead), for ‘Advanced, Intensive, All Male Tilapia Aquaculture Project with Israeli Technology’, says today's press release by Ministry of Science & Technology.

TDB has penned an mutual agreement, to provide loan assistance of Rs. 8.42 crores out of the total project cost of Rs. 29.78 crores to the company.

Tilapia’ has emerged to be one of the most productive and internationally traded food fish in the world. The culture of tilapia has become commercially popular in many parts of the world and the fishery experts have dubbed the tilapia as “aquatic chicken” due to its quick growth and low maintenance cultivation. Today, if any fish that could be named as global fish, no better name can be thought of than Tilapia.

In order to facilitate the culture of Tilapia in India in responsible manner, Fountainhead envisages setting up of a complete production line (from breeding to full fish) in Mudhol (Karnataka). The company aims to produce 500 tons of Tilapia, to be grown from the imported parent broodstock ‘Hermon’ from Nir David Fish Breeding Farm, Israel.  

Hermon is a hybrid of two selected strains of Tilapia, namely Oreochromis Niloticus (Male) and Oreochromis Aureus (Female), and is known for special characteristics such as high growth rate; resistance to low temperature.

Fountainhead Site in construction for Aquaculture [Image - fafpl.co.in]

Fountainhead initiated the conventional fish farming of Indian Major Carps (IMC) at Mudol, Karnataka by converting the sugarcane fields to earthen ponds and drawing water through pipelines from the river. It specialized over the years to grow particular breed of IMC from seedling stage to full grown fish, most conducive to the water and soil properties of the established Site location spreading over 16 acres of land.

The company has adopted advanced Israeli Technology from Aquaculture Production Technology Limited (APTIL), Israel (under Technology Service Agreement signed in October, 2020) for land locked locations through closed loop farming for arid zone with seasonal water supply from rivers, which may be replicated throughout India in multiple arid landlocked locations with reasonable water sources. In order to suit Indian conditions, the complete engineering of the facility is tuned as per the requirement of site conditions such as land availability, water availability, weather conditions, availability of the surrounding resources, soil conditions, topography.

Mr. Rajesh Kumar Pathak, IP&TAFS, Secretary, TDB said that, “The Govt. of India has placed special attention to fisheries sector with a view to uplift fishermen community of India economically through ‘Blue Revolution’. The sector holds vast potential for export, especially the ‘Tilapia Fish’ considering its huge demand in the global market. Also, the imported technology being ‘one of its kind’ will be a great addition to Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), the ambitious scheme of Hon’ble PM, which aims to double the export earnings to Rs.1,00,000 crore from fisheries sector.

Fisheries is one of the fastest growing sectors amongst the primary producing sectors. The sector plays a vital role in economic and overall development of the country, also referred as the “sunrise sector”, it is poised to bring in immense potential through equitable and inclusive growth. The sector is recognized as a powerful engine for providing employment to 14.5 million people and sustaining livelihood for 28 million fishermen community of the country.

A couple of months back, AquaExchange, a full-stack, tech-driven platform serving India’s multi-billion-dollar shrimp & fish ecosystem, had raised $3 million in Pre-Series A funding from Endiya Partners and Accion Venture Lab, and others. AquaExchange’s IoT-powered technology helps India’s shrimp and fish farmers improve productivity and increase profits

Notably, to promote fisheries the cabinet under the chairmanship of Hon’ble Prime Minister, came up with ‘Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY)’ to bring about ‘Blue Revolution’ through sustainable and responsible development of fisheries sector in India.

The PMMSY scheme targets to enhance fish production to 220 lakh metric tons by 2024-25, at an average annual growth rate of about 9%. The ambitious scheme also aims to double the export earnings to Rs.1,00,000 crore and generate about 55 lakhs direct and indirect employment opportunities in fisheries sector over a period of next five years.

Aquaculture Fintech Platform AquaExchange Raises $3 Mn From Endiya Partners and Accion Venture Lab

AquaExchange Raises $3 Mn From Endiya Partners and Accion Venture Lab

AquaExchange’s IoT-powered technology helps India’s shrimp and fish farmers improve productivity and increase profits

AquaExchange, a full-stack, tech-driven platform serving India’s multi-billion-dollar shrimp & fish ecosystem, has raised $3 million in Pre-Series A funding from Endiya Partners and Accion Venture Lab, with participation from existing investors. The company will deploy the capital in strengthening its technology, e-commerce operations & expanding its farm automation footprint to over 1 Lakh acres of farms by FY23 ending March 2023.

AquaExchange’s vision is to improve farmer productivity and livelihoods by ushering in AquaCulture 4.0 into India. Started in 2020, the company has already touched lives of thousands of Indian farmers with its patented tech and is demonstrating its value proposition to all stakeholders in the ecosystem.

The startup operates across the value chain through: a) Fintech enabled e-commerce platform – that offers high quality inputs at best prices directly from manufacturers; b) unique ‘Hardware-as-a-Service’ model for farm automation – smart, reliable and easy-to-deploy IoT devices under the brand name ‘NextAqua’ - on subscription basis - for automated feeding and 24x7 farm monitoring; and c) ‘Harvest-as-a-Service’ market linkage platform - that facilitates harvests at the farm-gate with transparent pricing and assured spot payments to the smallholder farmers.

Pavan Kosaraju
Pavan Kosaraju
AquaExchange has patents published for its power management tool “PowerMon” and its feed management tool “AquaBot.” PowerMon is the world’s first patented technology that empowers farmers with complete farm power monitoring and aeration control through the convenience of a mobile app. AquaBot, the world’s only moving auto-feeder that has been deployed at scale, allows farmers to efficiently feed their ponds while maintaining good feed conversion ratios (FCRs).

AquaExchange merged with the device manufacturer NextAqua, founded by Kareem and Kiran, earlier this year. Pavan and the core team comprising Hemasundar, Kareem and Kiran come with strong backgrounds in multinationals, building high impact teams in growth stage startups, consulting, industrial design, and manufacturing.

Pavan Kosaraju, Founder of AquaExchange, said, “At AquaExchange, the key focus is on adding value to the aquaculture farming process through the use of advanced technology. Our IoT devices and automatic feeders have been installed at scale and are helping farmers with higher reliability/efficiencies in terms of aeration and feed management, while at the same time providing RoIs within the first quarter of usage. We believe that future aquaculture farmers should be equipped with the right data at the right time to ensure higher crop successes and also increase farming productivity. This in turn will help the other industry players such as Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance Companies to work with farmers and, in the process, unlock industry-wide efficiencies.''

Dr Ramesh Byrapaneni, Managing Director of Endiya Partners, added, “We’re excited to back the brilliant team of AquaExchange in their vision to transform the aquaculture landscape in India and globally to benefit a large number of aqua farmers. With its differentiated proprietary technology for farm automation and power management, AquaExchange will not only help bring in efficiencies across the aquaculture value chain but also generate solid data driven insights to bring in access to formal credit, that has largely remained elusive for the sector”.

“As rising inflation and supply chain disruptions make it harder for low-income families to put food on the table, it’s crucial that farmers are supported with the tools they need to sustain and grow their businesses. AquaExchange’s innovative technologies are addressing several pain points for India’s fish and shrimp farmers — including purchasing supplies, automating processes, and selling products — to ensure that farmers are empowered to continue feeding their communities, ” commented Michael Schlein, President and CEO of Accion.

According to market reports the global shrimp and fish markets are estimated to grow to $400bn by 2027. This market is at the threshold of a massive change in terms of technology adoption for efficient farming. Companies like AquaExchange are at the forefront in terms of ushering in AquaCulture 4.0 which is needed to facilitate such productivity increases.

Kelp Blue, An Aquaculture Startup That Locks CO2, Raises $2 Mn From De Beers Group


De Beers Group Invests Us$2 Million in Kelp Blue, an Innovative Start-up Focused on Growing Underwater Kelp Forests to Lock Away Co2

The investment supports a pioneering nature-based solution for sequestering carbon and increasing biodiversity, while supporting job creation and sustainable economic development in Namibia

De Beers will have access to potential carbon credits generated by Kelp Blue to complement the company’s core carbon reduction and removal strategies as it strives to be carbon-neutral across its operations by 2030

De Beers Group today announced it is investing US$2 million in Kelp Blue, an innovative start-up focused on growing and managing large-scale giant kelp forests, initially off the Namibian coast. These underwater forests have the potential to safely and permanently lock away vast amounts of CO2 in the ocean. Research has shown that kelp forests have carbon sequestration properties exceeding those of terrestrial forests and that they help sustain healthy marine ecosystems, providing food and shelter for countless species.

In line with De Beers Group’s Building Forever sustainability goals, the investment supports a pioneering nature-based solution for sequestering carbon and enhancing biodiversity, while also delivering skills development and job creation in Namibia, where De Beers has recovered diamonds in joint venture partnership with the Namibian Government for almost three decades.

Giant Kelp underwater forests. [Photo credit - Kelp Blue]

Giant Kelp underwater forests. [Photo credit - Kelp Blue]

In 2021, Kelp Blue was awarded a license to cultivate Giant Kelp off the coast of Namibia and is now in the pilot phase. The business will contribute infrastructure development in and around the town of Lüderitz, benefitting the local community by creating employment and upskilling opportunities in kelp cultivation and processing. During the pilot phase, the business will generate a range of direct and indirect jobs in biotechnology, engineering, processing, support services and logistics in Namibia

The initiative will also support De Beers in its goal of being carbon neutral across its operations by 2030. While De Beers Group’s primary focus in achieving this goal will be on increasing efficiency and replacing fossil fuel and fossil-based energy from its operations with renewable alternatives, carbon credits resulting from the investment in Kelp Blue will support the company in removing any remaining emissions, alongside other nature-based initiatives.

Giant Kelp underwater forests. [Photo credit - Kelp Blue]

Neil Ventura, Executive Vice-President, Strategy and Innovation at De Beers Group, said: “We are committed to being carbon neutral across our operations by 2030, and to achieve this ambitious target we will need to recover a share of our emissions after we have removed and replaced the majority of the fossil fuel energy in our business. Instead of simply purchasing carbon credits on the market, we are looking to identify potential long-term, sustainable and innovative nature-based solutions for this – particularly those that can deliver additional carbon capture benefit beyond our own business. While there is still work to be done to understand more about the scale of opportunity, Kelp Blue is an innovative start-up with significant potential, and we are proud to invest in its future.

“Alongside protecting the natural world, another priority of our Building Forever sustainability framework is to partner with communities in our host countries on sustainable development opportunities. The potential benefits in Lüderitz and elsewhere in Namibia – in terms of employment and supporting ‘green’ solutions to wider challenges – highlight just how well Kelp Blue’s objectives align with our own sustainability approach.”

Daniel Hooft, Founder and CEO of Kelp Blue said: “We are very pleased to have De Beers alongside us, thinking about the future, today. De Beers has communicated its commitment to protecting the natural world through its 2030 Building Forever sustainability goals, with its focus on carbon neutrality, minimising its water footprint and delivering a net positive impact on biodiversity. These are one hundred per cent aligned to Kelp Blue’s core passion and purpose. De Beers’ early investment in our offshore pilot – a world first in terms of scale and ambition – specifically helps us accelerate the quantification and verification of the carbon sequestration pathways, which is essential for the whole seaweed industry in terms of scientifically establishing the potential of this novel nature-based solution.”

Learn Latest Aquaculture Technologies for Aqua Farming with Mobile App "Matsya Setu"

Photo by Aqua Shack from Pexels

Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Shri Giriraj Singh, today launched the Online Course Mobile App “Matsya Setu”. The app was developed by the ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (ICAR-CIFA), Bhubaneswar, with the funding support of the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), Hyderabad. The online course app aims to disseminate the latest freshwater aquaculture technologies to the aqua farmers of the country.

Matsya Setu app has species-wise/ subject-wise self-learning online course modules, where renowned aquaculture experts explain the basic concepts and practical demonstrations on breeding, seed production and grow-out culture of commercially important fishes like carp, catfish, scampi, murrel, ornamental fish, pearl farming etc. Better Management Practices to be followed in maintaining the soil & water quality, feeding and health management in aquaculture operations were also provided in the course platform. The modules are divided into small video chapters for the convenience of the learners, along with additional learning materials. In order to motivate the learners and provide a lively learning experience, Quiz/Test options were also provided for self-assessment. Upon successful completion of each course module, an e-Certificate can be auto-generated. Farmers can also ask their doubts through the app and get specific advisories from experts.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Giriraj Singh, Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, stated that capacity building of fish farmers is a very vital part of spearheading the Technology-led Aquaculture Development in the country. He emphasized that trainings should be provided on various activities including ornamental fisheries, seaweed culture, module on feed preparation, post harvest value addition. He emphasized to include inputs of successful farmers while providing training.

He stated that the app will be surely helpful for the farmers to learn the advancements in the technologies and Better Management Practices at their convenience. Learning the advanced technologies will certainly influence the adoption of scientific methods in fish farming; hence the productivity will be enhanced, and the income will be improved. This app can also be an important tool to disseminate the latest information on different schemes among the stakeholders, especially fishers, fish farmers, youth and entrepreneurs across the country, assist them and facilitate ease of doing business. He expressed confidence that the app will serve as a wonderful platform for the farmers for learning.

During the event, Union Minister interacted with progressive fish farmers from various places in the country and taken inputs from the farmers. During the interaction he enquired about the cost economics of the various fish culture practices and also asked some of the successful farmers to share videos of 1 to 2 minutes of their projects implemented.

While appreciating the efforts of the ICAR-CIFA & NFDB for bringing out the app for the benefit of the farmers. The Union Minister said that the app should be popularized widely and should reach every fish farmer in the country.

Shri Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. Mr J.N.Swain, Secretary, Department of Fisheries, Government of India and senior officers of the Department of Fisheries were present.

More information on how to download and use the app -HERE


Market Reports

Market Report & Surveys
IndianWeb2.com © all rights reserved