Since becoming the prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau has stressed the importance of innovation and its ability to boost the Canadian economy. The adoption of leading-edge technologies, products and services will help create local job opportunities and make the country more competitive in the global market. Innovation can spur entrepreneurship and help forward-thinking young business leaders create enterprises that give back to the community and inspire other young leaders to launch their own ventures. This win-win situation will benefit the nation and the local populace where these start-ups operate.
Island Water Technologies is a good example of such innovation. The Montague, PEI-based cleantech start-up hopes to use its novel technologies to treat wastewater in outlying areas and small communities. The company has had a major breakthrough and is now working in conjunction with three distributors, who will market and sell its revolutionary ClearPod product throughout Canada. ClearPod is a small device that restores the performance of failing septic tanks when it is dropped inside of them.
Island Water Technologies CEO Patrick Kiely is certain that sales of ClearPod will rise in 2016. In addition, the start-up hopes that 2016 will be a good year for its new product, a mobile solar-powered water treatment plant. Island Water is hoping to install two of these solar-powered water treatment plants in North Africa as well as New Brunswick. Kiely acknowledged that the goal for installation was an optimistic one but said the company is working hard to reach it.
ClearPod and Island Water Technologies were two separate enterprises until this month. ClearPod was involved in producing devices for septic tanks, while Island Water Technologies was coming up with its revolutionary solar-powered water treatment facilities for small communities. Now, the two enterprises have merged and the firm received funding from angel investors, Innovacorp, and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. The company revealed it has sufficient funding for the next 18 months.
Island Water Technologies also participated in an incubator that was hosted by Cycle Capital Management, which is a cleantech fund based in Montreal that has worked with SABRtech and LED Roadway Lighting.
The company revealed that it is selling ClearPod through distributors based in British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia. It also hopes to sign sales agreements in several states in the US.
Island Water has been working with Dalhousie and Cycle Capital to make its solar-powered water treatment plant mobile so that it can be taken to remote locations where there is limited or no electricity to treat wastewater. The company is looking to market this product to the mining industry and the military.
Pioneering entrepreneurs will benefit from having an MBA degree under their belt. The UCW MBA program ensures that its graduates acquire the skill and talent to think out-of-the-box and come up with innovative solutions to overcome business challenges.
