GoHub, the corporate venturing company of Global Omnium, a €30 million fund for investment in deeptech startups with disruptive solutions for process automation, cost reduction, product innovation and sustainability in industry 4.0, is launching The Global Water Challenge in Canada.
Considered one of the fastest-growing ecosystems in the world, GoHub is ready to invest up to €3 million in the hottest Canadian deep-tech startups. Its goal, in the second year of its tour around the globe’s most powerful ecosystems, is to create the world’s largest water technology hub.
Following its visits to New York, Barcelona and Helsinki, The Global Water Challenge (TGWC) has put out a call for Canadian startups with unique solutions not only in water management but also using agnostic technologies that can be applied to different sectors to automate and optimize processes, such as applied artificial intelligence, industrial IoT, No-code, edge computing, augmented and virtual reality, synthetic data, cybersecurity, 5G, digital twins, and quantum computing.
At TGWC Canada, GoHub joins forces with GoAigua -Global Omnium’s technologic branch in North America-, with IBM as its technology partner, and with the help of the Toronto Region Board of Trade, institutional backing of the Quebec Government, and the Canadian Government through its Embassy in Spain.
“Canada is one of the most powerful ecosystems in the world in AI solutions. In addition, Canada is investing close to $1 billion to promote innovation together with great potential companies and has become one of the most important clusters in water technologies. It is, therefore, a very attractive country for entrepreneurs where GoHub must be present”, commented Patricia Pastor, Managing Director at GoHub.
The Global Water Challenge is one of GoHub’s flagship projects. It is based on the premise that industry processes must be optimized if resources are to be managed sustainably and more efficiently. Technology and digital transformation are pivotal to this goal.
Apply to the Canadian dream
During the call, which is open until October 12, GoHub will be organizing various events and panels with its partners in the Canadian ecosystem. In addition, Collision, the major global technology conference scheduled to take place in Toronto from June 20 to 23, will be hosting a presentation of the Challenge with all the organizers.
An expert committee composed of GoHub’s investment team will select the top 5 finalist start-ups. The winner will be announced in November at a final gala at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona. The chosen startup is set to receive up to €3 million in investment and will be given the chance to develop a paid use case at Global Omnium, one of the world’s top five water utilities. In addition, the winner will benefit from business development opportunities and partnerships with participating TGWC members and their networks.
The requirements for participating startups include being based in Canada, working in B2B SaaS and having an annual turnover of +200K$; seed- series A stages; having a leadership team with solid technological expertise; a product-market fit in their home country, a validated business model and an established technology in at least one vertical; previous experience of working with a large corporation; and they must be in the process of raising capital during 2022 or 2023.
