Meghan Jensen (608) 346-3956
MJensen@thewatercouncil.com
The Water Council welcomes next round of entrepreneurs and graduates class of 2017
MILWAUKEE, WI, July 21, 2017 – The Water Council and Guest of Honor Wisconsin Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch announced today the fifth round of winners of the BREW Accelerator and graduated the fourth round of startups during a special ceremony last night at City Lights Brewing in Milwaukee.
The BREW Accelerator is the world’s leading seed accelerator focused on innovation-driven startups with commercialization potential solving global water challenges. The accelerator pairs the water-focused startups with a community of credentialed experts, services and resources of Wisconsin’s historic world water hub to help entrepreneurs from around the world launch their businesses.
“Milwaukee, a City that brewed beer for decades, is internationally recognized for brewing water technology innovations to help solve our world’s water challenges,” said Dean Amhaus, president and CEO of The Water Council. “From a gel filtering technology to giant bubbles, we are eager to get to work with this new batch of startups.”
After a comprehensive application and judging process, the following startups were selected to participate in the fifth year of the program:
Each year, BREW winners receive up to a $50,000 equity investment, work space in the Global Water Center in Milwaukee, business training through the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Institute for Water Business, research and talent connections, immersion into The Water Council’s global membership network, mentorship from water industry experts, and much more.
The following “class of 2017” BREW Accelerator startups graduated during the ceremony:
The BREW has worked with 25 water technology startups to date, 14 of which have patents granted or pending. Since 2013, participating startups have conducted 2,000+ customer interviews, raised $2.6 million in additional capital, provided 65+ full-time positions and 38 internships, facilitated 115 contracts, pilot sites or memorandums of understanding and made thousands of connections to mentors, partners, international delegates and practitioners in the water technology industry.
Supporting partners of the BREW Accelerator include GRAEF, International Water Association, Marquette University, Michael Best & Friedrich, Sage Water, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Institute for Water Business, WIPFLI and Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.
The graduate of the first round and winner of the second year of BREW Corporate Accelerator powered by A. O. Smith Corporation, an expansion of the BREW Accelerator that partners with global corporations, were also recognized at the ceremony.