Pipeline H2O — a new water technology commercialization program managed by The Hamilton Mill — recently announced its first class of companies. Back in November, MSW wrote about the program as applications were still being accepted.

Supported by a coalition of regional cities, utilities, universities and startup organizations throughout the Greater Cincinnati region, Pipeline H2O’s goal is to identify and accelerate companies working on water technologies that address the world’s water challenges. Some of the challenges include infrastructure improvements, water reuse, wastewater treatment, monitoring and consumer innovations.

The call for applications was initiated last September and ran through November 2016. More than 60 applications were received across five continents and 14 countries.

Pipeline H2O’s application review process included multiple rounds of evaluations to select the initial class of eight companies. The evaluations were conducted by a committee made up of a cross-section of water experts and entrepreneurial leaders, including Greater Cincinnati Water Works, The Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati, City of Hamilton Water, Confluence, Butler County Groundwater Consortium, U.S. EPA, The Hamilton Mill, Cintrifuse, Village Capital and Queen City Angels.

“We are thrilled with the quality and quantity of the applicants for the initial Pipeline H2O class. The high quality of the applications made it very difficult to select the initial members,” says Rahul Bawa, chairman of Pipeline H2O and The Hamilton Mill. “The Greater Cincinnati region has some of the best water resources and municipal water in the nation and we are looking forward to making a substantial impact for each of these companies to find customers and generate revenue.”

The Pipeline H2O program will run from February through May 2017 and will introduce the selected startups to various value-add resources throughout the region.

Antony Seppi, Pipeline H2O’s director, says the group can’t wait to begin working with the startups and introducing them to the value-add resources throughout the Greater Cincinnati region. “Our region has some of the best water assets which can be leveraged to help these companies succeed,” he says. “These assets include water-tech expertise and a great entrepreneurial ecosystem within #StartupCincy.”

The first class of Pipeline H2O companies includes ANDalyze of Champaign, Illinois; AquaClara of Ithaca, New York; kW River Hydroelectric of Hamilton, Ohio; PowerTech Water of Lexington, Kentucky; Searen of Cincinnati, Ohio; Slipstream ZLD of Albuquerque, New Mexico; WaterStep of Lousville, Kentucky; and WEL Enterprise of Covington, Kentucky.