Tapping Into Federal Funding: How We Helped DayZero Enhance Access to Clean Water
DayZero Water is enhancing access to drinkable water around the world. Our Federal Funding Assistance Team (FFA) is helping them unlock federal funding for their mission.
The team unleashing new sources of funding for DayZero Water
VertueLab’s Federal Funding Assistance team supports underrepresented communities and entrepreneurs, helping them turn technical ideas and innovations into a reality. These ventures receive assistance every step of the way — from matching them to the right agency to guiding them through proposal management and grant process. Our goal is to be in our partner’s corner, equipping them with the tools they need to have the strongest chance at federal funding by helping to identify, navigate, and apply for opportunities.
Federal funding represents a major financial cornerstone for cleantech ventures. Where other sources of investment could mean sacrificing equity and control of a startup, federal funding is non-dilutive. This means fewer strings attached and more control over the future of entrepreneurs who are solving environmental challenges.
Clean, reliable, and low-cost water
VertueLab’s relationship with DayZero Water began with our Cascadia Cleantech Accelerator — an 18-week mentoring and networking program designed to help cleantech startups still in the early stages of development.
DayZero Water’s Water Box
DayZero’s goal — to give families access to clean water in places where treated sources are unavailable — made accepting them into our FFA program an easy decision. How did founders Paul Berg and Dave Conklin set out to accomplish that goal? By creating an alternative to boiling water that was easier, safer, and more reliable. Their solution: The Water Box.
The Water Box removes impurities using ultraviolet light and is small enough to fit under a bed or in a closet. Plus, it has a flexible range of power supply options. When an outlet is unavailable, the integrated hand crank lets users purify water on the go. While the tech the Water Box runs on isn’t new — its purification design uses similar tech to that of municipal water sources — scaling it down to the level of individual household water treatment is a first.
Identifying the right path to federal funding takes the right partner
So what does working with our FFA team look like? Collaboration.
There’s no one-size-fits-all pathway to federal funding. So, together, our teams vetted federal agencies with SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) funding available for small businesses, taking into account elements of DayZero’s mission, tech, and long-term goals — all to maximize their chance at receiving funding. Once we pinpointed the strongest opportunities, our FFA team helped DayZero craft a National Science Foundation SBIR project pitch from start to finish.
The results? A Phase I grant of over $300,000 that will help DayZero give more people around the world a new source of purified water.
How your support for VertueLab supports orgs like DayZero
For orgs who have a hardware-based product like the Water Box, the need for early-stage prototyping, testing, and development can scare away other sources of investment. The right federal funding opportunity can be the difference between an organization with tech like DayZero launching or slipping through the venture capital cracks.
Without access to alternative sources of funding, many promising cleantech ideas never make it past the prototype phase — not because they don’t work, but because the resources to scale don’t exist. Through our work, VertueLab seeks to support the mission of startups like DayZero who are building economic, climate, and community resilience.
Consider making a tax-deductible donation to VertueLab to help the clean tech innovators who are reimagining the planet today.
