Sewer and water utilities often face a disconnect when trying to communicate with the public. That’s where British company Advizzo is stepping in — helping utility companies bridge the divide and engage the public.

Advizzo, which was founded in London in 2015, was recently selected to be part of the 2018 Pipeline H2O class, a water technology commercialization program in Ohio that assists start-ups with developing, commercializing, and funding their inventions and processes.

“It’s exactly what we’re looking for,” says Julien Lancha, chief customer officer for Advizzo. “It’s a U.S incubator with the best go-to-market approach to help us reach the Midwest.

“The Midwest is renowned for having a huge legacy infrastructure for water — from regulation to innovation. We are excited to be a part of it.”

Advizzo is a behavioral science software company, which aims to transform the way consumers think about their energy and water consumption and, alternately, helps utilities connect more effectively with their customers.

“Using our knowledge and experience of behavioral science and data science, we have developed customer engagement software,” says Lancha.

The software addresses topics such as waste reduction, drought prevention and reduction of unnecessary costs.

“In the U.S., we’re targeting water utilities and municipalities on the East Coast and in the Midwest, followed by California,” says Lancha.

Currently, Advizzo — which has 20 employees — does extensive work with municipalities in Dubai and also works with nearly half of the water utilities in the United Kingdom. Advizzo is hoping the Pipeline H20 program will help it secure its first U.S. partnership, ideally within the next year.

Lancha notes that Midwestern water companies and municipalities can be very different than the markets the company is currently in. 

“In the Midwest, it’s all about customer affordability and engagement, which plays to Advizzo’s strengths enormously,” he says. “We help reduce people’s bills and help them understand how to be a sustainable consumer.”

By offering a link between utilities and customers, Advizzo aims to become a viable force in the U.S. and Europe in the next five years.

“People deserve to know how to become a more sustainable consumer, and there’s a much bigger appetite for this now,” Lancha says.

Check out this story about GeoInteractive, another company in the 2018 Pipeline H20 class: Australian Company Automates Sewer Inspections With 3-D Mapping Technology.