Welcome to our X-Europe startup interview series. We have virtually sat down with a number of our founders from past cohorts to hear all about their solutions, vision for the future, and what made them tick during our X Europe programme. So whether you are a deep tech founder looking for startup support, an eagle-eyed investor, or simply interested in the possibilities that technology can bring to society, then we welcome you to take a read. Please meet Waterjade by MobyGIS, a startup that provides analytics and forecasts of water harvesting for industrial application.
Can you briefly explain what your solution is all about? What’s unique about it?
We optimize water harvesting for industrial applications.
"How much snow is in the catchment and when will it melt?"
"How much water will flow to my plant in the next days or months? Will I be subject to water stress?"
"What is the condition of the reservoir? Will I suffer from quality problems?"
Waterjade addresses these questions, proposing a service of monitoring and predictions of water supply, specifically tailored to the customer configurations.
We make use of physical models and machine learning to predict the water discharge flowing to the production plant. Satellite data and in-situ stations are used to monitor the upstream catchment and weather forecasts feed a specifically trained model, calibrated according to the real plant configuration, to provide accurate forecasts. A decision support system is finally simulating the level of the reservoir to ease the management of the water supply.
Compared with state-of-the-art, we provide forecast services along the whole timeline, from short-term forecast (+ 5 days) to long-range (+ 6 months) forecast and also climate projections (+ 30 years). Furthermore, we follow the whole water cycle, from snow in the mountains to river discharge in the valley.
What business sectors do you target? How does the technology make an impact? We target industrial businesses, like:
- Hydropower companies, that need to forecast water inflow to plan the production in the short term and for budgeting reasons in the long-range.
- Water Utilities, that need to secure water harvesting in order to meet the water demand.
We provide tailored services of water predictions to their production plants. Water is the blue gold of the 21st Century and Global Warming is making water harvesting ever more discontinuous and unpredictable. Our impact is in the adaptation to Climate Change.
What’s the biggest milestone your startup has achieved so far, and what challenges are you still trying to overcome? Our biggest milestone is to be a prime contractor in a consortium for snow monitoring in an ESA tender. Furthermore, we have achieved important partnerships with actors in the hydropower and water utility sectors to commercialize our solution.
How has X-Europe helped you during the past few months?
We have received top training in growth hacking and also the individual mentorship helped us to focus on the priorities for business development.
After joining and benefiting from the services X-Europe has provided, what next steps do you envision? We will implement a CRM and hire a person for lead generation.
What advice would you give to an entrepreneur trying to pave his/her way in the artificial intelligence / machine learning landscape? I would advise finding a vertical where AI may have an impact and then develop the solution thereafter.
What’s unique about the X-Europe programme?
I think the top quality of the trainers and mentors.
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