Aqualateral, a multi-asset class investment vehicle dedicated to investing in transformative solutions to local and global water crises, today announced it is sponsoring two innovative funding mechanisms for water utilities and adjacent industries to deploy promising new technologies. The partnership with water consultancy Isle Utilities is a new approach to funding and scaling breakthrough water technologies. The “Trial Reservoir” was only established one year ago with a focus on net zero carbon in water utilities and has met with such success that it is now being scaled out into industrial water. The Trial Reservoir and new Industrial Reservoir provide water technology innovators access to capital loans for pilot projects. The initial Climate Change Trial Reservoir focus was on technologies that reduce the carbon emissions of water systems. The new Industrial Reservoir expands the focus into resource recovery, emerging contaminants, waste-to-energy/circular economy & decentralization. Technology trials and pilots are generally required in advance of full-scale implementations.
The two Reservoirs will make pools of funding available to early-stage technology companies, giving them the capacity to undertake trial deployments with technology users. The ‘reservoir’ of funding will be replenished from the proceeds of commercial contracts, when the trials move to full deployments. Aqualateral is a founding sponsor of the Industrial Reservoir initiative, along with global water technology leader, Xylem (NYSE:XYL).
“Through collaboration and financing, Aqualateral aims to catalyse innovation in water technology to alleviate the challenges that communities increasingly face. Aqualateral is delighted to be able to partner with Isle on their pioneering Trial and Industrial Reservoir initiatives, which provide capital at crucial stages to innovators seeking to transform how water is managed, treated, and distributed,” said Jiten Manglani, Aqualateral’s Chief Investment Officer. “The Trial Reservoir is a unique way to drive innovation by providing bridge financing and de-risking this process for end-users. This structure creates a critical mechanism to scale new technologies that are vital to ensuring a water-secure future.”
“Aqualateral’s sponsorship of the award-winning Trial Reservoir does much more than just create financial capacity for innovation in water utilities,” said Dr Jo Burgess, Head of Trial Reservoir at Isle Group. “The Reservoir initiatives bring together all the players needed to bring new technologies to market – utilities, investors, start-ups, non-profits. By removing financial uncertainty, partnerships between end-users and innovators can focus on solving a whole community’s water challenges and getting new, proven water technologies into the marketplace.”
The Trial Reservoir and Industrial Reservoir are open to technology vendors around the world, actively supporting trials in high, medium and low-income countries. The only requirement is that the technology being tested must help the technology user to lower its carbon or resource footprint.
The Trial Reservoir funded its first trial in December 2021, and has been presented to – and endorsed by – the G20 countries’ finance ministers. It was also the winner of the WEX Global Award 2022 for Innovation in Decarbonising.
For more information, contact Dr Jo Burgess, Head of Trial Reservoir, at jo.burgess@isleutilities.com
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