Focused on developing an affordable, rapid and portable water testing and treatment solutions to prevent outbreaks of waterborne diseases, Glacierclean Technologies Inc. has raised $50,000 in seed funding to further develop and test its technology, Mobile Water Kit 2.0 (MWK 2.0).
Developed in the laboratory of Professor Sushanta Mitra in the Lassonde School of Engineering, MWK 2.0 is a portable water testing kit that will enable millions of people around the world to test water at the source and determine whether or not it is contaminated. The technology drastically improves on existing technologies, which require water samples to be obtained and tested in a laboratory, both of which require significant time and money.
Mitra says MWK 2.0 is cost effective and enables individuals, municipalities, or industries to test water at the source and receive results within minutes. The technology has the potential to improve the lives of millions, especially in developing countries where water contamination and the resulting outbreak of waterborne diseases is a day-to-day problem. It is equally applicable for rural and Northern communities in Canada and a large number of municipalities across the United States.
Working with Innovation York over the past two and a half years, Mitra and co-inventor Naga Siva Kumar Gunda, incorporated Glacierclean Technologies Inc. in February 2016, with a view to obtaining investment and taking the development and commercialization of MWK 2.0 to the next level.
“To successfully obtain the first seed investment within ten months of incorporation is very exciting,” says Mitra, “Investment is essential for the completion of our field trials in India, as well as hiring a business development lead for the company”.
Partnerships have been key for the development of MWK 2.0. Glacierclean Technologies is actively working with a number of partners in North America, Europe and Asia, which include Novozymes, Grintex, Development Alternatives, Watermill Express, and ELS. It takes a village to commercialize a technology and Glacierclean is fortunate to have so many strong partnerships and the ongoing intellectual property and business development support from Innovation York, says Mitra.