Couldn't join the event ? Find below the presented challenges by water experts from all sectors during the Open Forum
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Registered participants included expert representatives from the following organisations
Event sponsors
WHO
Participants to the event came from:
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Small and Medium Enterprises with interests in the water & sanitation sectors
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Multinational companies with interests in the water & sanitation sectors
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Investors (banking, asset management, private banking, corporate companies)
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Water & sanitation institutions (foundations, coalitions, NGOs)
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International organisations, national governments
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Universities / incubators / research institutions
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UN Agencies with interest in WASH and IWRM
Participants from the event shared expertise:
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Water, sanitation and related development issues
Sustainable Development Goals
Access to basic services for low income populations
Business and human rights
Market based solutions
Social entrepreneurship
Impact investing
Blended finance
Circular economy
Decentralized business models
WHAT & WHY
Innovate 4 water: A matchmaking forum for sustainable development
Waterpreneurs co-organized this event with WaterVent and the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization’s "WIPO GREEN : The Marketplace for Sustainable Technology”.
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WIPO GREEN hosted the event that brought together various water & sanitation stakeholders over the course of two days (entrepreneurs, investors, large and small companies, non-governmental organizations, UN agencies, incubators) who are contributing to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 6.
The objectives of the event were to:
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Create visibility for entrepreneurs in the water sector in order to enable them to reach impact investors;
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Promote the transfer of innovative water technologies and innovative business models in emerging markets and developing countries;
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Facilitate connections to catalyse collaborations
INVESTMENTS
MATCHMAKING
OPEN
FORUM
June 8, 2017
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Entrepreneurs with innovative water and sanitation technologies and business models looking for investments pitched to prospective investors, including clean-tech venture capitalists, private equity and corporate investors.
Themes of the day:
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​Different ways of dealing with water issues
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Corporates in water industry
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Universities & foundations from Europe and Israel
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Clean & Water Tech Clusters
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Institutions supporting new water technologies
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Water tech Investors (Financial Investors)
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June 9, 2017
​The Open Forum provided the opportunity for meaningful interactions about Technologies, Business and Human Rights amongst water experts, impact investors, social entrepreneurs, multinational corporations, NGOs and UN agencies.
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Themes of the day :
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Water and sanitation in the circular economy
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Water Energy Food Health nexus
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Smart water & sanitation technologies (data leveraging, data monitoring)
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Sustainable ecosystems for water & sanitation entrepreneurs: from ideation to maturity
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Hybrid business models applied to development & emergencies
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Blended/Innovative Finance
DETAILED PROGRAMME
​June 8-9, 2017
WHERE
United Nations - World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
Chemin des Colombettes 34
1202 Geneva, Switzerland
CO-ORGANIZING PARTNERS
WaterVent is the first matchmaking platform in water technologies designed to bring exclusively water technology (and those related in the water nexus) entrepreneurs and investors together in an exclusive, non-conference, one-on-one setting in order to accelerate growth by support in attracting (first) clients, assess business opportunities and facilitate financing in the water sector.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is one of the 17 specialized agencies of the United Nations. WIPO was created in 1967 "to encourage creative activity, to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world."
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WIPO GREEN is an interactive marketplace that promotes innovation and diffusion of green technologies. It does this by connecting technology and service providers with those seeking innovative solutions.
Waterpreneurs aims to help solve the problems raised by the 17 Objectives of Sustainable Development (SDG) with a focus on SDG 6 (Water and Sanitation).
Waterpreneurs works on a dialogue and provides multi-stakeholder solutions (private, public, civil society ...) around issues of human rights, security and peace in the world, through the development of entrepreneurs who provide basic services to the most vulnerable populations, in particular through access to drinking water.