Cleantech company launches crowdfunding campaign
A European cleantech company has announced an online crowdfunding campaign to supplement European Commission funding.
The company, Watly, has developed technology which uses solar energy to produce electricity and clean wastewater and seawater. It received funding in 2015 under Horizon 2020’s SME Instrument, which allowed the company to undertake a feasibility study of its latest prototype.
The company’s founder and CEO, Marco Attisani, told the magazine research*eu results about the benefits of the Horizon 2020 funding to the development of the technology: “The SME Instrument is really making a huge difference in boosting innovation. Horizon 2020 is a great opportunity for innovative European companies.” Attisanti suggested that European investors are not as bold as American investors, and praised Horizon 2020 for its willingness to take risks. A prototype was tested in Ghana, and offered clean drinking water to local residents.
Now, Watly is asking internet users to offer additional funding support in order to pioneer the next stage of its research, a device which the company says is capable of producing sufficient necessary resources for up to 3,000 people a day for at least 15 years. Over this period of service, the machine could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 1,000 tonnes. The company says that crowdfunding the new technology is an opportunity to bring it to the worldwide community.
