CHF 600’000 to propel industrial production of water filters
Summary
This achievement marks the startups start into the industrial scale up phase as it nears its vision to make clean drinking water technologies accessible.By combining innovative Swiss membrane science with a digitized micro-franchising ecosystem, Zurich-based startup Openversum seeks to make an impact on the lives of millions of people without access to clean drinking water. This scale up phase will set the stage for expanding into further countries, including Peru and the rest of Latin America as well as in Uganda, where a pilot project is currently ongoing in collaboration with Get Water Uganda and GIZ to deliver 5000 filters by the end of 2024.In addition, this investment allows the ETH spinoff to reach the contribution that was needed to benefit from the REPIC rollout project grant of CHF 500000 over two years to facilitate market entry. REPIC, an interdepartmental platform of Federal Offices SECO, SDC, FOEN, and SFOE, offers project-based funding supporting up to 50% of project costs. This initiative aids research and impact startups focused on emerging settings to establish solid market proof for scaling. With this funding, our team can continue bridging the gap between cutting-edge Swiss technology and tangible impact in emerging communities, positively transforming lives on a larger scale, said Laura Stocco, co-founder of Openversum.In preparation for the planned financing round in early 2025, Openversum is still looking for CHF 150000 this year to advance on their solvent-free membrane manufacturing process.