Urban Drinking Water Challenge

Deadline: 2018-07-02
Award: $1 million
Open to: Eligible startups**

he 2018 Urban Drinking Water Challenge offers up to $1 million to deploy and invest in winning solutions. Three winners will be announced during Stockholm World Water Week (August 26-31). The Challenge seeks scalable solutions to: Alternative Supply, Distributed Access & Delivery, and Ecosystem Health.

The Challenge is supported by a $1 million commitment from Bluewater and 11th Hour Racing. The three winners will be eligible for cash awards and deployment funds. Additionally, they will be eligible for investment consideration from the Challenge partners. The winners will be honored at a closing ceremony during Stockholm Water Week 2018.

There are currently 37 mega-cities with populations of 10 million plus. The UN forecasts that the 54 percent of the world population currently living in urban areas will rise to 66 percent by 2050, a mass urbanization that will exacerbate the challenge of managing living environments. The Challenge aligns with U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 6, or SDG6, which calls for universal access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030

The Challenge is designed to create direct and scalable impact for water-scarce cities and at-risk communities, inspire community awareness and public action, promote the role of innovation and entrepreneurship, and facilitate the deployment of real solutions to a real problem.