Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, China.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2021 Feb 4;16(2):e0246282. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246282. eCollection 2021.
Emerging technologies have driven the rise of many water-related startups and created new opportunities in water markets. The global water crisis could be mitigated by applying innovative technologies, sound water management decisions, and successful business models, and it is essential to better understand the status and future trends of emerging water markets. This study aims to discover shifts in the entrepreneurial landscape and evaluate water startups' development performance for the sustainable development of emerging water markets. We collected and analyzed data including the founding date, service area, service provided, details of funding raised, revenues, and consumer responses on 132 water startups founded between 2008 and 2018 in California, USA. Our results indicated that municipal area dominated the emerging water startup market compared to agricultural and industrial areas, and that many of the services provided shifted from conventional technologies to digital technologies. Though digital water startups' current revenues were relatively low, digital techniques applied in the water industry exhibited the good potential to promote public health and water saving. The development trends and performance of water startups enlighten the technological and commercial revolutions in the emerging water market, and provide guidelines for the decision-making in relevant stakeholders in the scientific, governmental, and industrial communities.
新兴技术推动了许多与水相关的初创企业的崛起，并在水市场创造了新的机会。通过应用创新技术、合理的水资源管理决策和成功的商业模式，可以缓解全球水危机，因此，有必要更好地了解新兴水市场的现状和未来趋势。本研究旨在发现创业领域的变化，并评估水初创企业的发展绩效，以促进新兴水市场的可持续发展。我们收集并分析了美国加利福尼亚州 2008 年至 2018 年间成立的 132 家水初创企业的数据，包括成立日期、服务区域、提供的服务、筹集资金的详细信息、收入和消费者反馈。结果表明，与农业和工业领域相比，新兴水创业市场以城市地区为主导，提供的许多服务已从传统技术转向数字技术。尽管数字水初创企业目前的收入相对较低，但水行业中应用的数字技术具有促进公众健康和节约用水的良好潜力。水初创企业的发展趋势和绩效为新兴水市场带来了技术和商业革命，为科学界、政府和工业界相关利益攸关方的决策提供了指导。
