MINCH water filters affordable - scaleable - water treatment for ethiopian BOP market

We have an elevator pitch. We are already working in BoP markets and want to improve our current offering.

Leveraging a novel design of water filter which offers lowest-cost solution for customers who live near water points that are unsafe. Synchronizing with Ethiopia's Federal and regional strategy of Self-Supply, we'll build our market network on existing structures incorporating both NGO and governmental actors down to local Health Extension Workers.

Our founder has the business savvy and persistence to turn ideas into a company. We have a business network and can get introduced to the right people. We can build the product. Given the time and money, we can deliver on our promises.

Andrew Smith: water engineer, tech inventor, Ethiopian company co-owner. Lars Osterwalder: a HWTS Consultant specializing in carbon credits & fluoride removal. Jasper du Plessis: property developer with experience of starting businesses in Africa. All residents in Ethiopia.

We have a demo or prototype and are ready for the next step. We have developed the product ourselves and own all of the IP for the product.

Prototypes in the field being operated by real users alongside independent testing sponsored by CAWST. Prototype tested by Ethiopian Conformity Assessment Enterprise. Signed MoU with Ministry of Science. Bench scale production capability. Currently building partnerships for scale

We plan to start by building a community of passionate customers. We have identified one or more revenue streams. We plan to monetise our offering in the next phase.

1) End user pays the target price of 20 USD, potentially taking advantage of loans facilities for Self Supply available in Ethiopia. User gains saved time (walking to gain safer water), saved expense (on medicines & water treatments), prestige, and is enabled to use accessible water (e.g. a well on their land) 2) End user pays approx 6 USD / 2-years to replace filter cartridge 3) Scale (2000+ units / month) means registering Carbon Credits becomes attractive. One filter saves 1 CO2 ton/year.

Unlike competitors products, our product will be priced aggressively low (enabled by our technology type). It is women and children who are negatively impacted by the burden of spending time & energy gaining sufficient safe water. Our product frees both women and children from this excluding activity by enabling them to utilize closer sources.

We involve low-income groups as consumers. We involve low-income groups as distributors.

Ethiopia's own target is 35 million people treating water in their own homes by 2020. With no affordable products available at scale our impact on this market is reduced child and neo-natal deaths, less time spent on collecting water from distant sources, less expense on medicines for simple illnesses. The technology is applicable to other low-industry countries in Africa as well as huge water filter markets like South-East Asia where filters replace boiling.