Like many entrepreneurs in the water field, Sunit Mohindroo focuses on gathering, filtering and distributing.
But it’s data, not water, that Mohindroo processes to help other businesses and utilities solve problems around the world.
He and his partner, Ahmed Badruddin, launched WatrHub in 2011, and moved the business from Toronto to Milwaukee in 2014 to join the BREW – Business, Research and Entrepreneurship – in the Global Water Center.
“It’s been a great experience to help us accelerate,” Mohindro said. “We have opportunities to talk to clients, and schedule meetings with industry or municipal partners. It brings people together to talk about policy and high-level views.”
Mohindroo and Badruddin, both Canadian, met while working for Microsoft in Seattle. Their affinity for software and data analysis, coupled with a desire to make an environmental impact, spurred the launch of WatrHub.
They saw a need to consolidate the volumes of data produced by the water industry, measuring quantity and quality and the results of treatment technology. Businesses and municipal utilities contract with WatrHub to provide data that informs their decision-making.
“There are regional and local problems that are hard to solve,” Mohindroo said. “We believe data can play a role in turning those challenges into opportunities.”
He said WatrHub has generated more than a dozen customers and roughly $1 million in angel investment. The creators plan to expand their data and customer base in 2015, boosted by the support in the BREW and a win in the 2014 Imagine H2O business plan competition.
