3 Successfully Crowdfunded Water Sustainability Startups

Crowdfunding is awesome. You can make any product, let's say, three toy monkeys riding a two-seater bicycle (all 3D printed of course) and then sit back and see who invests in your product.

So why are companies turning to crowdfunding nowadays? Well I'm assuming, like me, entrepreneurs feel that going to the bank is a big yawn, but more importantly, they want to keep a level of ownership over their products.

Crowdfunding is also quite simple. You can get a crowdfunded project on many sites like KickStarter in a couple of days no problem.

3 Water Sustainability Startups that used Crowdfunding

Many environmentally conscious entrepreneurs are using crowdfunding to fuel their world-changing ideas.

Here are 3 successfully crowdfunded water sustainability startups:

1. Lucid Energy: LucidPipe™ Power System

Lucid Energyis the producer of the LucidPipe™ Power System that produces clean electricity from water. It was funded by OurCrowd an Israeli hybrid venture capital/crowdfunding platform.

So how does the process work? Well, it's extremely simple. Hydro turbines are placed in existing drinking and wastewater pipes to produce electricity of up to 50 Kilo Watts. In fact, the City of Portland was so impressed with the idea it has been installing LucidPipe™ Power Systems to generate enough electricity to power 150 homes.

Does this technology sound too good to be true? Well, the initial cost of installing the hydro turbines is high, about $1.7 million to power 150 homes, but like most sustainable processes, it will save money in the long run.

2. Water To Go

Water To Gois a BPA free bottle with a filtration system that filters out 99.9% of all bacteria, viruses, chlorine, fluoride and heavy metals. Funded by CrowdCube, the company filters water using a process that was originally made for NASA and has the ability to filter a whopping 200 litres of water. Pretty impressive. (Most importantly, for me, it's dishwasher proof. Hand washing NASA approved technology can be a chore).

Crowdfunding has helped the company drastically increase its marketing efforts with digital marketing and in-person outreach at tradeshows. It also helped Water To Go release a new bottle line targeting more casual users such as those who use the bottles to filter gym fountain water as opposed to those who use bottles to filter swamp water.

3. ISI Technology - HEATWORKS MODEL 1

ISI Technology has accomplished a big feat by inventing the world's first digital water heater. In early 2014, the company launched a Kickstarter campaign and raised $435,000 in pledges and pre-orders to fund the project.

The HEATWORKS MODEL 1 is a tankless electric water heater which revolutionizes the way water is heated. It creates instant and uninterrupted hot water while providing up to 40% in energy savings and 10% in water savings. The company tout the product as being the most energy and water efficient, reliable & versatile water heater available.

Kickstarter drastically helped the company get a winning start. Crowdfunding helped the company to secure a distribution deal, find three strategic partners, and gain over 2,000 pre-orders of the product at $399 a pop.

To view the videos for each of these startups, click here.