Phoenix Water Treatment Tech Startup Sold in Potentially Million Dollar Deal

A Phoenix-based technology startup that focuses on water treatment, has been sold to a New York-based company in a deal that could potentially be worth more than $1 million.

MicrOrganic Technologies Inc., based in Castleton-on-Hudson, New York, bought Phoenix-based Arbsource LLC's intellectual property and strategic partnerships developed by the startup since its inception in 2011.

MicrOrganic Tech is an early-stage bio-based renewable energy company developing microbial fuel cells for commercialization.

Arbsource’s microbial fuel cell technology will help propel the wastewater treatment tech to full-scale commercialization, said Arbsource CEO and founder Mark Sholin.

The final value of the acquisition will be determined through MicrOrganic’s completion of commercialization milestones between now and 2020. These include if various sales or contracts with strategic partners are reached, Sholin said.

“The price will add up over time, and could potentially add up to seven figures,” Sholin told me today. “I will get paid as milestones are reached.”

While Arbsource’s original vision was to build an entire water treatment system itself, over time the company found it was better with research and development to help companies who can build large capacities, Sholin said.

Since Arbsource achieved several technical milestones, Sholin said he was ready to sell.

“Now it’s time to get it in the hands of those ready to take it to that next level,” said Sholin, who has a chemical engineering degree from the University of Arizona.

Traditional wastewater treatment processes harness microbes to remove organic content from wastewater. Microbial fuel cells take that natural process one step further by using microbes to clean water while generating direct current. This will reduce wastewater treatment costs and will eventually make wastewater treatment a significant source of renewable energy, according to MicrOrganic Tech.

Arbsource has earned over $500,000 in revenue from research contracts and small-scale equipment sales. The U.S. Department of Energy and National Science Foundation provided funding through two Small Business Innovation Research contracts, among other contracts.

One of those research contracts in 2014 was with MicrOrganic. The two companies started serious talks about an acquisition in September and the deal closed in December. The acquisition was announced today.

Source: BizJournals

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• Treatment
• Wastewater Treatment
• water treatment