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:

3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.

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

To Accelerate Tech Adoption among Aquafarmers Aquaconnect Launches Direct-to-Farmer 'Aquaconnect HUBS'

India’s Leading Aquaculture Technology Company, Aquaconnect announced the launch of Aquaconnect HUBS, a first of its kind Direct to Farmer initiative. The integrated HUBS will help to accelerate the technology adoption with aqua farmers, improve last mile connectivity and also source feed, health products & farm equipment. The first HUBS have been launched in the coastal cities of Andhra Pradesh - Bapatla, Ongole, and Avanigadda.

The company plans to launch 25 HUBS in the next two years in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat and aims to engage more than 45000 farmers.

Aquaconnect HUBS will also enable direct connection to Banks for farmers to secure loans. The company has empaneled leading Banks and facilitates aquaculture loans to the fish and shrimp farmers. The HUBS will provide farm advisory solutions and act as a diagnostic centre for aquaculture.

Aquaconnect witnessed 10x growth during the pandemic. Agri sector had a limited impact of COVID - 19 and it is the right time to improve the ecosystem for aqua farmers according to the company. The hubs will improve the support system for farmers and provide services on ground today.

The company will directly and indirectly employ 700+ people via the HUBS.

A World Economic Forum - Young Global Leader, Rajamanohar Somasundaram, CEO and Co-Founder of Aquaconnect said, “It is exciting to nurture a very underserved aqua-farmer market. A brick and mortar approach will bridge and accelerate technology adoption for aqua-farmers and encourage sustainable growth of the Seafood industry.”

“The industry is exploding with opportunities, and we believe that Aquaconnect HUBS will holistically serve the farmers to better their produce quality, output, and eventually farm income.”

India’s government has prioritized the fisheries sector in its 2020 annual budget, setting the target for fisheries production at 20 million metric tons (MT) by 2022-2023.

Aquaconnect works with more than 17,000 fish and shrimp farmers and helps them with its AI-powered farm advisory solution FarmMOJO which supports farmers to monitor and track farming activities such as a change in water quality, feed intake, shrimp growth, and disease occurrence

precisely. The full-stack aquaculture technology venture improves farm productivity and sustainability through AI and Satellite remote sensing technologies.

About Aquaconnect:

Headquartered in Chennai, Aquaconnect was founded by Rajamanohar Somasundaram, Sanjai Kumar and Shanmuga Sundara Raj in 2017. It is a full-stack aquaculture technology venture that works with shrimp and fish aquaculture farmers to improve their farm productivity and market linkage through AI and satellite remote sensing technology. Aquaconnect aims to promote sustainable aquafarming among the farming communities and works with 13,000+ farmers in various states of India. Aquaconnect is funded by HATCH Fund, Norway and India’s biggest Agritech venture capital Omnivore.

Aquaconnect is recognized as World Changing Idea 2020 by Fast Company. The company is also an Innovator at Seafood Innovation Project and Hatch Accelerator, Norwegian Seafood Innovation Cluster. Aquaconnect is a platinum winner of Agriculture insuretech award at World Bank Group.

Indonesia Innovator Award 2019 won by India's Rajamanohar Somasundaram for Using AI for Aqua-Farmers

Rajamanohar’s Aquaconnect, the only Indian startup who won innovator award 2019 in Indonesia and now it’s ready to sail to the Indonesian market. After helping more than 3000 farmers in India Aquaconnect is all set to expand internationally and shall be running pilots in Acehand Sulawesi among 2000 farms by the end of 2020.

Rajamanohar who is also referred as the Aquaman as his initiative “Aquaconnect” is promoting sustainable fish and shrimp (seafood) farming and aims at helping farmers increase their productivity and rural employment through artificial intelligence (The app FarmMOJO )

In their endeavour to further promote and contribute in Global sustainable seafood innovation ecosystem, Aquaconnect entered Indonesian seafood innovation project.

In late 2018, SIP placed a global call for innovations with the potential to improve Indonesia’s seafood sector in three challenge areas: Innovative financing, novel technologies, and market demand creation.

There were 80 startups that applied for the prestigious honour. After a rigorous selection process,informed and supported by seafood sector experts, sustainability specialists & business professionals,there were 6 innovators chosen for the program.

Aquaconnect is the only Indian startup that received the honour.

[caption id="attachment_134650" align="alignleft" width="300"] SIP Summit Day 2[/caption]

Rajamanohar was invited to participate the kickoff event in Bali, Indonesia in April 2019. Aquaconnect presented their ‘AIpowered FarmMOJO’ app among the SIP gathering.they shall be provided with 8-month accelerator program, office space, access to both local and global mentors, pro bono legal advice, marketingsupport, and access to small grants. At the end of the program, companies will be deeply embedded ina Global sustainable seafood innovation ecosystem.

The current market potential in India is about half a billion. The expansion into South East Asia shall provide Aquaconnect 6X opportunities like India. By the end of 2020, India’s own aquaman plans to work with 12000 aquaculture farmers in Indian and South East Asia.

Rajamanohar Somasundaram, an IIT Alumnus, is a serial technology entrepreneur with extensive experience inbuilding the Internet and mobile technology-driven businesses. “Young Global Leader in 2012” byWorld Economic Forum in recognition of the leadership and contribution in the technology innovation.

Innovator Award

The Seafood Innovation Project is building an entrepreneurial ecosystem for the fisheries andaquaculture sector in Indonesia. Through collaboration with a range of stakeholders, the SeafoodInnovation Project will accelerate innovative solutions to achieve a sustainable economy, and buildresilient communities engaged in the Indonesian fisheries sector.