Can you introduce yourself?
My name is Alex Berhitu, I was involved in the Business Development at the Water Alliance for ten years. I did so from my position at the NOM*, as the NOM is one of the founding fathers of the Water Alliance. Regarding my background, I studied analytical chemistry and worked amongst other companies for the company X-flow, well known for its membrane filtration. This is also my main link to water technology. When you look at my complete resume I always worked on product market development , the main focus has always been bringing new technology to market.
How did the Water Alliance Innovation Stimulation (WIS) award came to be?
The Water Alliance started in 2010, one of the main question was; how are we going to strengthen innovative companies on and around the water campus and establish them on an international level? We participated in international exhibitions from the get go, to strengthen our claim: ‘for innovation you need the Dutch’, we needed some practical examples to support this.
So, what was the underlying idea?
We already had a lot of innovative companies + tech. The goal was to cluster these companies and their tech on a platform, to give them a stage to tell their unique story. Water technology is a very wide ranging field from UV lights to biological removal, to showcase this broadness we decided to make an award like competition format.
When we first introduced the concept at the Aquatech Amsterdam. We noticed that at the aqua-stage, in the exhibition hall, a lot of people were stopping and the seats surrounding the stage kept filling more and more, so we knew we had a good concept. This also has to do with the fact that inventors, the ‘Willie Wortel/Gyro Gearloose’ find it difficult to tell their story in a short period of time. Our elevator pitch format compelled the innovators to explain their invention in 2 minutes, no more no less.
You have hosted many editions, who/what do you remember most?
So much to choose from. If you look at the products I usually asked myself how did they do this, so innovative. I still remember the first winner BlueLeg Monitoring, they did water analysis without even touching the water, mind-blowing. We took them all across the world, Hans Wouters really made an impression with this ‘radar gun’, everybody who got wind of it was flabbergasted.
Or the Hydro Washer, clean your hands without soap with just 10 ml water and Fleatcleaner who clean a ship hull without the ship needing to be in a dry-dock, while loading and unloading the ship is cleaned. I can talk about them for hours, they really made an impact. This once again confirms the Dutch water tech really is on the forefront of developing new innovative tech, all participants are a testament to that.
What is the biggest success story?
The biggest proof of success is that your concept is copied by others. Many other organizations have similar competitions and awards. But to my opinion the buzz that we create or initiate is what is of most value to the participants. If you look at Hydraloop, it is of course a big hit, international recognition, winning the CES award, but before they did so, they won the WIS award!
Why should you participate?
It puts your technology on the international stage and brings you, the entrepreneur a step further. You learn how to pitch (better), but it’s not just about the winner, every contestant receives a lot of attention. All the competitors are in the spotlight for a long time, all competitors are winners so to say.
What about the prize money?
You won’t get €10.000 cash in hand, for some this was a disappointment. But when you look at the effort Water Alliance puts in to promote the winners specific tech, be it exhibitions, editorial, marketing, or something completely different this is much more than €10.000.** Everybody did realize this sooner or later.
Did it ever happen that the public and the jury had a very different opinion about the winner/how was this dealt with? It did sometimes happen that the jury and the audience had a different number one. This is of course no problem. We have a transparent weighing of public votes and expert votes. One of the reasons we formed an independent expert jury is because water technology has such a broad scope, a lot of disciplines and applications. Furthermore the commercial relevance and ecological impact have to be taken in account. In short it is more than the first impression after the pitch. We needed an expert jury to reflect on this all.
We carefully selected the expert jury to represent the broad scope of water technology. The utilities are represented by Cora Uijterlinde (STOWA). For the science perspective we have Cees Buisman (Wetsus), the Business side is done by Willem Buijs (Hatenboer water).
There is also a seat for a non-permanent juror, in the beginning this was a non-voting member. The public vote is weighed as half of the final verdict, while the other half is done by the expert jury.
You have been at all the WIS awards, do you have any tips for new contenders?
The main thing is to stay true to yourself, be enthusiastic about your product. Keep it short and simple, practice on your 2 minute pitch, not too long, not too short to hit the sweet spot so to say. You will be timed, the hourglass does not lie!
Once you are over the first hurdle of pitching, you can trust the jury too make a good assessment of your product and its potential. On the podium you are generating interest, if someone wants to know more they will find you afterwards, you can go in depth on your tech later.
Any final words?
If you are in doubt if you should enter, always do so, because the podium you and your company will receive during the award is massive. I wish you the best of luck in your participation and hope to see you on stage during the Grand finale at EWTW.
*The NOM is the investment and development agency for the Northern Netherlands. It’s objective is to stimulate the economy and employment in the Northern Netherlands. The NOM does this by investing in promising companies, sharing knowledge and experience with entrepreneurs and by making their large network available to anyone who might benefit from this.
**Together with Water Alliance the winner gives substance to the marketing support package.