Water technology entrepreneurs and consultants came together on Thursday morning for “Water is Life and Legacy,” a panel discussing the elements of a successful water tech startup. Hosted by former Stanford postdoctoral researchers Jinyu Guo, Ph.D. ’25 and Kindle Williams, the conversation, moderated by Williams, also shed light on the funding journeys of these startups

Guo and Williams are far from strangers to these topics. The pair founded water tech startup Recovered Potential, which removes and recovers nitrogen from wastewater, based on ideas developed during their time as postdocs at Stanford.

While exploring this year’s climate week programming schedule, Guo and Williams realized that there was no programming about water. The finding wasn’t unexpected — the water sector is often overlooked in conversations about climate change and technology, Guo said. 

“If there was no organized event, we’d just organize the event ourselves,” said Guo. 

The panelists for the event included NOAH Water Solutions CEO Rik Van Meirhaeghe, Waterline CEO and founder Derek Bednarski, FLOWS Energy co-founder Jose “Pepe” Bolorinos Ph.D. ’21 and Confluence West CEO Kimery Wiltshire. 

The term “water technology” includes any innovations or systems that intersect with water supply or waste management, said Williams. Experts in both domains shared their challenges securing funding at the panel. 

“There has to be a level of conservatism, because you’re dealing with health, you’re dealing with spreading of contagious diseases, so there’s a lot at stake,” said Meirhaeghe during the panel. 

Some of California’s largest industries are water-intensive. Agriculture uses 34 million acre-feet of water annually — enough water to cover 31 million football fields with one foot of water, according to the California Department of Water Resources. 

Meanwhile, water use in the technology sector has also grown in recent years, with medium-to-large data centers requiring millions — and sometimes billions — of gallons of water annually for cooling purposes, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute. 

The importance of water both to California’s industries and its natural environment lead to heavy regulations and laws surrounding water. More regulations mean extended timelines, which often limit water tech startups’ funding opportunities. These challenges make seed or venture capital funds difficult to acquire. 

Philanthropic funds, according to panelist Kimery Wiltshire, also largely overlook water conservation. 

“This conversation about water and about how we get through the next hundred years is not really happening on these kinds of funding levels,” said Wiltshire regarding large philanthropic funders. 

Wiltshire proposed two reasons why this could be the case: intractability and the appearance of water as a “local” issue. 

Though panelists spoke on the challenges facing water tech, Williams emphasized a desire to to inspire students, investors and those who might be able to adapt water technology. 

For Guo, the main message of the event lies in the event title. As more people start to feel the pressing effects of climate change through water, water is life, Guo said.