HCL Group and UpLink Announce Winners of ‘Tackling Water Pollution Challenge’ Under the Aquapreneur Innovation Initiative

HCL Group, a leading global conglomerate, and UpLink, the World Economic Forum’s early-stage innovation initiative, have announced the winners of the 'Tackling Water Pollution Challenge,’ the third in a series of five challenges under the five-year, CHF 15 million Aquapreneur Innovation Initiative launched by HCL Group. The announcement marks a significant step in the ongoing mission to address global water challenges through groundbreaking innovation and entrepreneurship.

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After evaluating over 270 submissions from around 60 nations, 10 Aquapreneurs from 9 countries were chosen for their innovative solutions in the freshwater sector. This year’s winners, termed ‘UpLink Top Innovators and Aquapreneurs’, reflect a diverse set of expertise demonstrating the transformative potential of innovation in tackling water pollution worldwide. The winners will share financial award from a pool of CHF 1.75 million, enabling them to scale their initiatives and amplify their impact. In addition to funding, the winners will also gain access to exclusive resources, mentorship, and global networks provided by HCL Group and UpLink.

The Tackling Water Pollution Challenge was dedicated to addressing freshwater issues worldwide, with special focus on combating water pollution. Solutions presented by winners included cutting-edge advancements in filtration systems, wastewater treatment, industrial water reuse, and water quality monitoring technologies.

Highlighting the role of Aquapreneur Innovation Initiative in combating challenges related to freshwater, Roshni Nadar Malhotra,Chairperson of HCL Group, said: “Water scarcity and pollution are existential threats to humanity and biodiversity. The Aquapreneur Innovation Initiative launched a couple of years ago aims to discover and support the most innovative start-ups and scale-ups tackling the world’s most pressing water issues. The 20 pioneering start-ups, winners of the previous two years, have collectively gone on to achieve immense success. In 2024 alone, they helped save over 12 billion litres of water, equivalent to Switzerland’s entire water footprint each year. They also treated 3 billion litres of wastewater. The Grant provided by HCL enabled them to expand to new markets, deploy pilot projects, increase customer count, and scale-up production and operations. These 20 start-ups have raised US$70 million in funding since joining the Initiative. So, congratulations to all ten of this year’s winners. I’m already looking forward to returning to Davos next year to share their successes!”

Added Olivier Schwab, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum, “As water challenges grow more urgent, HCL Group and UpLink’s continued commitment underscores the need for collaborative innovation to safeguard freshwater ecosystems. The initiative is not just driving immediate solutions, investment and multistakeholder partnerships —it is paving the way for a sustainable future where clean, accessible water is a reality for all. By supporting bold, scalable solutions, we are making a critical contribution to addressing one of the most significant global challenges of our time. The collaboration between HCL Group and UpLink continues to set a global benchmark for how innovation can drive large-scale, lasting change.”

Water pollution is a global challenge, with about 80% of the world's untreated wastewater being released into rivers, lakes, and oceans. This leads to 485,000 premature deaths every year worldwide and costs the global economy $260 billion annually. The challenge of water pollution intensifies as countries industrialize, with chemical contamination of freshwater sources being prominent across industrial economies. This includes the rise of microplastics and PFAS (Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances), also known as the Forever Chemicals in water supplies, risking public health.

The 2025 Tackling Water Pollution Challenge Winners

• Aquagga, United States of America, focuses on innovative PFAS destruction using its Hydrothermal Alkaline Treatment (HALT) technology for environmental remediation and wastewater treatment.
• Digital Paani, India, focuses on enhancing operational excellence in water treatment, addressing water scarcity and pollution through scalable solutions in under-resourced areas.
• Fluidion, France, advances water intelligence with innovative sampling solutions that monitor pollution and water quality across urban, natural, and industrial environments.
• FREDsense, Canada, provides in-field lab-based water quality testing solutions, empowering utilities and environmental consultants with real-time, accurate data for effective water management.
• Fungi Life, Colombia, uses fungal biotechnology to create sustainable ingredients, aiming for net-zero emissions by revalorizing agro-industrial waste for environmental sustainability.
• Mimbly, Sweden, optimizes water resources in the laundry industry through innovative recycling and filtration solutions, promoting sustainability with advanced water-saving technologies.
• Oxyle, Switzerland, offers an economical, sustainable solution to PFAS contamination by completely eliminating PFAS from water, empowering industrial and environmental remediation companies to tackle contamination effectively.
• SENTRY, Canada, is a biological activity and water quality monitoring platform that uses unique bio-electrode sensor technology for real-time microbial performance monitoring in wastewater treatment systems.
• Syrinx, Australia, offers innovative water treatment solutions with its nature-based 'Wetland-in-a-Box'® (EnPhytoBox), addressing water pollution and boosting climate resilience, especially in agriculture.
• WASE, United Kingdom, treats industrial wastewater onsite, helping customers comply with regulations, maximize bioenergy generation, and decarbonize thermal energy demands through sustainable, economically viable solutions.

In addition to the financial awards, the winners will have the opportunity to participate in events and projects led by the World Economic Forum and its partners. These opportunities will provide invaluable support to scale their ventures, ensuring sustainable and impactful solutions for water challenges.

Since its inception, the Aquapreneur Innovation Initiative has made notable progress in addressing global freshwater challenges. This funding has enabled winners to innovate, scale production, and expand into new markets. The initiative has also driven progress in water conservation, wastewater treatment, greenhouse gas emission reductions, and job creation. To date, top innovators have cumulatively raised over $70 million in funding to scale their innovations.

HCL Group and UpLink’s ongoing collaboration underscores their shared commitment to sustainability and innovation, paving the way for a future where freshwater resources are managed responsibly and effectively.

Notes to the editor

About UpLink

UpLink is the World Economic Forum’s early-stage innovation initiative that builds ecosystems that enable purpose-driven, early-stage entrepreneurs to scale their business for the markets and economies that are essential for a net-zero, nature-positive, equitable future.

Sourcing innovations through a competition framework known as innovation challenges, UpLink has run more than 50 challenges to date and selected over 500 early-stage entrepreneurs with innovative solutions across critical SDG areas including freshwater, health, food, ocean, plastics, education, climate and more.

For more information, visit https://uplink.weforum.org

About HCL Group:

Founded in 1976 as one of India’s original IT garage start-ups, HCL Group is a pioneer of modern computing with many firsts to its credit, including the introduction of the 8-bit microprocessor-based computer in 1978 well before its global peers. Today, the HCL Group has a presence across varied sectors that include technology, healthcare and talent management solutions and comprises three companies – HCL Infosystems, HCLTech and HCL Healthcare. The enterprise generates annual revenues of over US$13.8 billion with 220,000 employees operating across 60 countries. For further information, visit www.hcl.com

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