weekly startup spotlight

welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj, and always up to something in social good x tech.

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scroll to the end for my daily roundup on unique opportunities!

onto today’s topic: watter ⚡️ 

we often hear about net-zero emission stories on social media, but how many of them are actually reducing overall carbon footprint? watter is an early-stage sustainability startup that focuses on repurposing wasted heat from computing devices to heat water in buildings, both commercially and domestically. by harnessing the excess heat generated by electronic devices, watter aims to improve energy efficiency in building systems, potentially reducing both energy consumption and operational costs. 💰️ 

although their business model and public offerings haven’t been disclosed, i imagine they’re taking on a b2b model with a special focus on companies with significant computing infrastructure. incentivizing businesses with carbon removal credits, like chestnut carbon does, could be plausible as well.

let’s talk numbers! 🤓 

the global waste heat recovery system market, which watter operates in, was valued at ~$54.88 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow at a cagr of 9.8% from 2024 to 2030 (source).

watter recently closed a $5 million seed round with hunt innovative technologies and 17shoals inc. (source). watter’s specific revenue figures are not currently publicly available.

questions i’d be interested to ask:

• obviously, what is the proposed business model, and what exactly is the product you’re selling? 

  • as a follow-up, what is your customer acquisition strategy?

• what were your biggest fundraising challenges?

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