3AWater, a technology start-up from Kuopio, Finland, commercializes a solution for fast and easy analytics of metal contents of waters. The product will be used as a risk management and environmental monitoring tool for industries handling large amounts of metal containing waters such as mining. The technological concept originates from cutting edge research at the Department of Applied Physics at the University of Eastern Finland.
3AWater has secured a private investment of 90,000 euros to fund the market entry
Multimetal Water Analysis System is a portable kit for fast on-site analysis of waters. The disruptive product can replace expensive and time-consuming laboratory analytics especially when the results are needed immediately for fast decision making. The system will be launched to the European markets in late 2021. The prototype version of the system has been successfully piloted with customers in mining and environmental consultancy sectors in Finland and France.
"Despite the COVID-19 travelling restrictions, we were able to sell and perform an extensive set of demonstration pilots to our early customers and R&D partners. We got valuable information for further development of the product and our customers got a glimpse of the future of the on-site water analysis during these projects," says Jani Tuovinen, R&D Manager of 3AWater responsible for customer relations.
"We have made a big push to scale up the production and form a supply chain together with subcontractors, not a trivial task for a nanotechnology product. We are currently at the final stages of validation to ensure robustness of the product and reliability of the results to our customers. We will be ready to ship the first products after summer," says CTO Joakim Riikonen, commenting the current status of the technology.
The activities of the company have been funded and supported so far by the founders, Butterfly Ventures Ltd., Business Finland and European Innovation and Technology (EIT) council’s RawMaterials community.
New investor, Bernhard Münzing, joins the company bringing international sales and business development experience.
German investment company BePaMü GmbH was the main investor of the investment round closed on 18 May 2021. The company is managed and owned by Bernhard Münzing, a seed investor, who has made a successful career in international sales, strategic market, and business development in the fields of chemistry and materials.
"3AWater has established an excellent technology to analyse fast metal traces on-site giving the possibility to react quickly to save the environment. That’s in line with my investment philosophy," says Bernhard Münzing.
"We are excited to have an investor, who brings international sales and business development experience to our team. The timing is very good for us, since we are about to launch our product and Mr. Münzing brings valuable expertise in shaping our sales strategies and international growth," says Tuomo Nissinen, CEO of 3AWater.
Other investors participating in the investment round were Oy Piinom Ab and Finland Chamber of Commerce. The investments were part of a larger funding package including public support from the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment. The total volume of the funding round is 280,000 euros. With this funding, 3AWater will finalize the product and launch international sales.
"I was already impressed by 3AWater’s business case after they won the Tahko Ski Lift Pitch Competition in 2019, and we wanted to support their green innovation," comments CEO of Finland Chamber of Commerce Juho Romakkaniemi.
"We want to thank the investors for their trust in our team. Together with our collaborators and early customers, they make it possible for us to continue our work towards cleaner waters and reducing environmental impact of industry. We are also grateful for the Finnish and European support system for innovations and start-ups," says Tuomo Nissinen.
More information: Tuomo Nissinen, tuomo (a) 3awater.com, tel. +358 50 3643220
