Wayout International raises 6 MEUR to offset the need for bottled water.

Plastic waste constitutes 90% of all the rubbish floating in our oceans, with approximately 18,000 pieces of plastic per square kilometre. A substantial part of this comes from the 92% of plastic bottles that are not recycled – and the world consumes an almost unimaginable 500 billion annually. There are 66 times more plastic bottles than people in the world.

Every person consumes more than 100 litres of bottled water annually. This involves more than 40,000 trucks distributing the water weekly – not to mention planes and ships. The climate footprint of producing and distributing plastic bottles full of water is enormous and unsustainable. Fortunately, legislation against single-use plastics is rapidly being implemented in different parts of the world, easing the way for solutions like Wayout.

In addition to the climate impact of bottled water, the adverse health effects of water subject to plastic containerisation and non-qualified filtering processes are getting increasingly severe. Phthalates, also called plasticisers, are a class of man-made chemicals used to make water bottles and other plastics more durable and flexible. Phthalate exposure has been warned against because of how the chemicals affect a person’s endocrine system, which is the system that produces and releases hormones. Such chemicals have been linked to various reproductive, immune, and neurological disorders, including gestational diabetes, ADHD, fertility issues, liver disease in children, asthma, and an increased risk of breast cancer.

Wayout provides innovative, minimal eco-footprint water systems that distribute scientifically perfected, safe drinking water locally across different geographies. The containerised solution, patented and developed with partners such as Alfa Laval, Siemens and Ericsson, is easy to install and operate and has a per unit expected lifetime of 30 years. A single Wayout system can supply 3,000 people with clean and safe daily drinking and cooking water with zero byproducts while helping to eliminate the use of approximately 6.5 million plastic bottles and prevent the release of over 500 tons of CO₂ per year.

The unique hardware is coupled with equally unique software, whereby the system continuously measures and stores data on water purity in a digital chip. Through a combination of edge and cloud-based structures, the container and its parts communicate essential information and consumption data to the user and operator, allowing users to monitor their water drinking habits and the purity of the water consumed.

"Wayout's business concept of producing water locally means dealing with several sustainability challenges at once," says Ulf Stenerhag, CEO of Wayout International. "What sets us apart is that we have a solution that goes from cleaning water to supplying consumers. Our unit can clean anything from salt water to industrial wastewater. Then, we purify it to pure H₂O and add minerals to make it healthy drinking water. We have a 360-degree approach to water supply and are with you all the way. It is one of our success factors."

The 6 MEUR round involved Article 9 climate tech fund Climentum Capital, food tech investor Gullspång Re:food, US-based investor Raiven Capital, and existing investors.

“Shipping around water via fossil fuel-driven vehicles in fossil-based containers makes absolutely no sense”, says Malin Carlström, General Partner at Climentum Capital. “With the Wayout system, there is a guarantee that the water has not been tampered with, which is an essential criterion to enable consumer behaviour change. We are also very fond of the “Water as a Service” business model in conjunction with the system's robustness, as these are two factors that will enable a successful and profitable roll-out on a large scale.”