ABOUT HYDROP WATER SYSTEMS
Water shortages have been a global problem. Also, at the European and even German level, one reads more and more frequently about droughts and extreme weather conditions. If you want to save water as a consumer, a domestic water meter only provides a very unclear representation with no fundamental basis for holding water. However, studies show that even a simple consumption representation can lead to up to 20% water savings!
An interdisciplinary team of students, Moritz, Fides, Gibran, and Katrin had a dream to start their own company. Hydrop's story began in November 2020 with the AWAKE program at the University of Stuttgart. As long-time study acquaintances, they participated in the program as a group. Their initial idea at the time was to install a digital water meter for each end-user. They then met Ilya through the program, as he participated as a coach for the startup and in the end joined their team. They are all students at the University of Stuttgart and come from different engineering disciplines. Therefore, as a team, they complement each other well in their various skills and jointly promote their venture.
So how can water shortages be prevented? They solved this problem by showing consumers in one app exactly how much water they use and for what purpose they use it. When people shower, wash their hands or do the dishes, it is not necessarily the case that they really use as little water as they think they do. The app consists of extensive information on water conservation topics and numerous community features that make it possible to connect with like-minded people. In addition, connected water meters or add-ons to existing household water meters transmit high-frequency data to the back office, which identifies consumption patterns and assigns water usage to specific applications with the help of artificial intelligence. The backend sends the data to the user's app to view his consumption in detail. In addition, they provide personalized tips to reduce water consumption.
It is exciting to see how much they have already achieved as a young startup. The young team was able to win the audience award from AWAKE with the idea. In the future, the founders will offer an attachment for the central water meter, with which the flow rates are recorded, and is assigned to the respective consumer using artificial intelligence. Everything can then be conveniently monitored using a smartphone. With this idea, they won four awards at the ASAP BW #6: Overall Winner, Sustainability Award, AI Award, and the Audience Award. This means that they will even be able to take part in the state finals of the Start-up BW Elevator Pitch! Besides that, they applied for the EXIST-Gründerstipendium and hope to receive support from it. Now their studies are slowly coming to an end, in the summer three of them will graduate. For them, it is now or never!